Mikel Arteta sent insane warning over potential Arsenal January striker signing

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After Arsenal slumped to a bleak draw at the Amex against Brighton on Saturday evening, the sense of urgency around the club to strengthen in forward areas this month has risen.

The Gunners mustered just nine shots on the south coast, in what was a dire offensive showing from Mikel Arteta’s side.

Arteta lamented Anthony Taylor’s decision to award Brighton a penalty that ultimately cost Arsenal the three points, but in reality, his team didn’t create enough to warrant a victory.

The result leaves the North London outfit six points adrift of league leaders Liverpool, who have a game in hand, and who have scored eight goals more than their southern counterparts.

As a result of these goalscoring issues, Arsenal are being linked with a host of attacking players, although some shocking statistics around January signings could prompt the club’s hierarchy to think twice before making a move.

Arsenal warned about success of January signings

Arteta’s team faces a stretch of difficult games this month, with the Spaniard’s ensemble preparing to host the likes of Newcastle United, Manchester United, Tottenham and Aston Villa in the space of the next two weeks.

The Premier League giants will be without Bukayo Saka for the entirety of this period, while Raheem Sterling and Kai Havertz have also missed recent games through injury and illness respectively.

Thus, Arsenal are evidently in desperate need of reinforcements up front, and they could look to dip into the market in the coming weeks.

However, data scientist Aurel Nazmiu has revealed statistics on X that suggest that players, and specifically strikers, arriving at new clubs in January fail to hit the ground running.

The data guru disclosed that 38% of strikers that have signed in January in Europe’s top five leagues since the 2014/15 season have failed to hit the back of the net for the rest of the campaign at their new club.

Just 31% of centre-forwards manage three goals or more, while the cost of signing these players that don’t deliver goals is 17% higher in the winter than the summer window.

Matheus Cunha has been linked with a switch to Arsenal, but Arteta could hold back on what would likely be an extortionate deal when seeing this data.

The Brazilian has never managed more than 12 league goals in a season in his career, and if he falls victim to the January curse, then he may not ultimately provide the output that would justify his signing.

Arsenal have also submitted a bid for Botafogo striker Igor Jesus, whose inexperience in European football would likely mean he also requires time to adapt in North London, and would be unlikely to move the needle for the Gunners this season.

Arsenal’s January signings haven’t generally been successful

While Arsenal are competing for major honours and thus would be expected to make more successful signings on average, the club’s track record would suggest they aren’t an exception to the mean.

January 2023 saw Arteta add valuable squad players Jorginho, Leandro Trossard and Jakub Kiwior to his ranks.

However, aside from this window, the winter market hasn’t been a happy hunting ground for the Gunners.

The likes of Mohamed Elneny, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Denis Suarez, Pablo Mari and Cedric Soares have been staple additions in the January window, and it’s fair to suggest none of these players set the Emirates alight.

If Arteta does choose to act this month, he’ll have to move with caution.