Arsenal are not going through the best of times, at least in terms of the fitness of their players. Although the Gunners are second in the Premier League, seven points behind Liverpool, and are in the last 16 of the Champions League, they are plagued by a plague of injuries that has only worsened with the recent hamstring injury of Kai Havertz, who is out for the entire season. He joins the absences of Gabriel Jesus, Bukayo Saka, and Gabriel Martinelli, which means the London side’s attacking squad is rather thin.
The only solution to this problem, considering that the winter transfer market has been closed since early February, would be to bring in a free striker, without a team. The British media ‘The Telegraph’ reports that, although the club’s sources consider it unlikely, Arteta has not ruled out the possibility, declaring that he intended to explore the options they have. Thus, ‘The Telegraph’ offers a list of attackers who could interest the ‘gunners’, and these are the chosen ones. Curiously, all of them have a past in the Spanish League.
Mariano Diaz (31 years old)
The former Real Madrid player is the youngest option among those selected by ‘The Telegraph’. The Spanish Dominican has been without a team since July 1, 2024, after a season at Sevilla in which he did not score a single goal. Mariano has not scored a goal in an official match since May 15, 2022, when he scored a goal in a Real Madrid match against Cádiz that ended 1-1. He has never again offered the image he gave at Olympique de Lyon in the 2017-2018 season (21 goals).
Diego Costa (36 years old)
The Brazilian has been in and out of retirement since 2021. He returned to Brazil, to Atlético Mineiro; tried his luck for the second time in the Premier League, this time at Wolves; and returned again to his homeland at Botafogo and Gremio, without having any real success in any of his destinations and interspersed with periods of several months without playing. When he was at his peak, he cost around €55 million to Atlético Madrid, who bought him back from Chelsea.
Wissam Ben Yedder (34 years old)
He is probably the striker on The Telegraph’s list who could be in the best sporting form. Ben Yedder ended his relationship with Monaco in the last summer transfer market after a fairly successful season, with 20 goals in 34 games. The latest rumors link him with Venezia. His main problem is that he has a two-year prison sentence suspended in France for sexual assault while intoxicated, as well as other problems with the law.
Carlos Vela (35 years old)
The Mexican has already been at Arsenal in several stages, with some loans in between to teams such as Celta, Osasuna, or West Brom. Finally, he was bought by Real Sociedad, from where he left for the United States in 2018. On January 1, 2025, he was left without a team after not playing regularly since 2023 at Los Angeles FC. In the 2022-2023 season, he scored 14 goals in 49 games.
Lucas Perez (36 years old)
The Telegraph’s latest candidate for the Gunners’ forward line is Lucas Perez. He terminated his contract with Deportivo de la Coruña for personal reasons in the last winter transfer market, as he intended to look for a team in Madrid to be closer to his son. In the Second Division, he had four goals (three of them against Cádiz in the same game) and four assists in 19 games