Mikel Arteta changed the direction of Arsenal’s season in early 2024 by taking his team to Dubai for a warm weather tour. Even though it wasn’t quite enough to beat Manchester City to win the Premier League title in the end, everything seemed to fall into place after they returned and they returned a very different team.
Regretfully, trying that same tactic again in 2025 has not yielded the same results. It has actually had the opposite effect. The Gunners are in a difficult position up top after learning that Kai Havertz, the team’s only healthy center striker, has a torn hamstring. This comes amid a campaign that has already felt incredibly unlucky.
Arsenal is now limited to bringing in a free agent if they want to replace the Germany international with a new arrival, as the choice to not buy a striker during the winter transfer window seems like a bad one (though everything is easy to criticize in hindsight). Or elevate a young person from the academy.
This is a list of the top choices accessible, but be advised that it isn’t the most motivating.
Free agents that are available
Vela Carlos
Vela is a well-known figure who played for Arsenal from 2005 to 2012 but never had a big impact. It would be interesting to see him return to the Emirates. As romantic as that sounds, it might be a stretch to expect the 35-year-old Mexico international to move up to the Premier League level after he hasn’t played anything but MLS football for 6½ years.
Additionally, he is the type of deft player who would probably be more effective on Arteta’s team’s wing than as a focal point through the middle, where he must constantly contend with center backs.
Diego Costa
Five years after leaving Chelsea, where he won two league titles and scored 59 goals in 120 games, Costa made a comeback to the Premier League in 2022 with Wolves, but he only managed one goal during the season. He was soon unable to play with the same relentless, bruising aggressiveness that had previously characterized his style of play.
After a few years, it’s difficult to think that much has improved. Botafogo and Grêmio have had inconsistent seasons in Brazil over the last two years. In 2024, he found it difficult to maintain his fitness and hardly ever played an entire game. Given the hostility the Arsenal supporters had against him while he was wearing a blue shirt, his signing may be intriguing, but it’s undoubtedly not the solution.
Maximo Gómez
Theoretically, at 28, Gómez is starting to reach his peak as a striker. The issue is that, in addition to not playing since Trabzonspor released him last summer, he failed to score a goal throughout the 2023–24 season while on loan at Cádiz. He performed 33 times as well!
In order to be ready for the call, Gómez has been practicing at his former club, Valencia, because it was anticipated that he would find a new team in January. Given the circumstances, he was most likely considering Real Valladolid over Arsenal, but you never know.
Mariano Diaz Díaz is most likely the most desirable choice. Having played for Real Madrid, Sevilla, and Lyon over his career, he is still in superb physical shape at the age of 31 and has a wealth of experience playing for elite teams.
The issue is that, outside from his one standout goal-scoring season with Lyon in 2017–18, he only made 30 starts and scored 18 goals in Ligue 1. Madrid was persuaded to bring him back to the Spanish capital based on that, but he has struggled ever since, managing just five league goals in six seasons.
