How Sensible are the Athletic Sensible transfer suggestions?

Giving each suggestion a rating out of 10

The guys at Tifo (including a friend of the blog, Jon Mackenzie) do a series during the transfer windows where they like to take a team and suggest transfer ideas.

This week they picked out Arsenal to try and pick players that fit the areas that require strengthening.

Because actual transfer news is slow, I thought it would be worth taking a look at this outside perspective to see if I agree and trying to get an idea of how “sensible” these transfers are. They did acknowledge in the video that given the FFP situation at Arsenal, actually making moves might be hard and some of these might be difficult to get done but we will still rate them for how much it makes sense for this window.

Striker

Reason for upgrading: Goals. The suggestion is to look for a more traditional number 9, looking to upgrade on the options of Gabriel Jesus, Eddie Nketiah, and Kai Havertz.

Recommendation:

Victor Osimhen

Both JJ Bull and Mackenzie had Osimhen as their general first choice for Arsenal. He is a player that I have long admired and would wonder how a player of his profile would look at Arsenal.

This season he has taken a step back along with Napoli's overall performance. Looking at him compared to Gabriel Jesus, he doesn’t jump out as a major upgrade right now, especially for work outside of the box.

He would be very expensive and the big thing that you would want from him is scoring so maybe that is enough to trade off losing some of the other work that a player like Jesus does.

Sensible Rating:

January window 1/10, I can’t imagine this happening in January.

Summer window 5/10, I could see Arsenal taking a big swing with this but given that other work might need to be done it might depend on if sales could happen.

Alternatives:

Dominic Solanke

Solanke is having a breakout season with Bournemouth and has seen his profile rise quite a bit with that performance. With Andoni Iraola as the coach, Bournemouth have developed a style that makes seeing how this might translate easier. I still think his ceiling might not be high enough but it could allow Jesus to be used as cover on the wings, while still being the main guy for most matches as the striker.

Sensible Rating:

January window 7/10, if Bournemouth are willing to do business at a reasonable fee I think this is a sensible move. I don’t think he’s better than Jesus but I do think that he would be an upgrade potentially on Eddie Nketiah and perhaps a more reasonable fee than Ivan Toney.

Summer window 5/10, if Arsenal spends on a striker in the summer, I would hope it is for a better player. It wouldn’t be the worst move and it would probably be accepting that Jesus is the guy again (not the worst outcome).

Karim Benzema

Sensible Rating:

January window 8/10, if there is a chance of something like a loan being possible for this move I think Arsenal should explore it. I have no real idea how he is doing in Saudi Arabia but his last year in one of Europe’s top leagues was a good one. He can’t give you 2 matches a week or probably not even full 90s consistently but he is still incredibly talented and worth exploring to see if something could be done for a short-term stint.

Summer window 1/10, this is a move that only makes sense as a short-term move for me.

Right Winger