Arsenal are in the midst of an injury crisis, with Mikel Arteta’s squad severely depleted in forward areas.
Bukayo Saka is out until March, while Gabriel Martinelli will miss up to seven games with a hamstring injury.
Kai Havertz has been ruled out for the season, as has Gabriel Jesus, who suffered an ACL tear in early January.
This leaves Arteta with just three attackers at his disposal, in the form of Leandro Trossard, Raheem Sterling and Ethan Nwaneri.
Arsenal Insider revealed that Arsenal are considering several internal solutions to these issues, including converting a defender into a forward.
Four defenders who could become forwards for Arsenal
Gabriel Magalhaes
Far from an ideal option up front, but a player that could operate as a makeshift striker in an emergency.
Gabriel Magalhaes is aerially dominant, offering incredible threat when the ball is swung into the box.
While most of his chances come from set-pieces, the Brazilian could still be dangerous as a striker if Arsenal decide to pursue a cross-centric attacking approach late in games.
The centre-back could be covered by Riccardo Calafiori in defence, and has the physical capacity to bully opposing centre-halves if needed.
Kieran Tierney
Kieran Tierney is unlikely to feature at all in his traditional position at left-back, with Calafiori and Myles Lewis-Skelly dominating this role now.
However, the Scotsman could be used to close games out at left-wing, as this is something we’ve already seen in recent weeks.
Celtic have agreed to sign Tierney in the summer on a free transfer, but he still has time to write himself into Arsenal folklore with a major contribution as a winger on the way to a major honour.
Excelling in getting to the by-line and delivering accurate crosses and cut-backs, the defender could be well suited to playing as a wide forward in certain game states.
Oleksandr Zinchenko
Another that has fallen in the pecking order in his usual position, Oleksandr Zinchenko has a greater chance of playing on the wing than he does at left-back in the remainder of this season.
The Ukrainian is superb technically and boasts an exceptional range of passing, so could be used as a creative wide man who comes inside frequently, if the Gunners are struggling to break down a low block.
He’s not likely to be capable of doing the pressing work required from Arteta’s forwards, nor will he pose a goal threat, but his creative passing could be a useful asset in the final third.
Riccardo Calafiori
With Lewis-Skelly thriving at left-back, Calafiori could be freed up to be deployed in Arsenal’s forward line.
Either as a striker or as an auxiliary left-winger, the Italian’s ability to pop up in forward areas and cause chaos could be utilised as an attacker.
Calafiori highlighted his own finishing ability after scoring the winner against Wolves in January, and Arteta could look to use this attribute to maintain offensive threat late in games.
Far from ideal, but desperate times call for desperate measures.
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