Arsenal make contact for Mateo Retegui from Atalanta, after Mikel Arteta criticism.
Arsenal and Retegui new links amidst injury issues
The Gunners have contacted the Serie A side, Atalanta over their striker Mateo Retegui, as per reports.
The north London club are in a big striker crisis after injury to Kai Havertz. Havertz picked up a long-term injury during their warm weather training camp in Dubai. The Germany international is set to miss the rest of the season. Gabriel Jesus is also out for a while now with ACL injury and he will also miss this campaign. While Gabriel Martinelli has also suffered a injury which will most likely keep him out for few more weeks.
The Gunners still believe that they made the right call by not signing a single new player in January. They thought it would have been a panic signing if they bought anyone while having issues in their attacking line. But as things stand, Mikel Arteta has stated that he might have to force himself into some weird personnel decisions in this injury crisis.
Last weekend, Leandro Trossard started the game as the main number 9 against Leicester City. But it was the Spanish midfielder Mikel Merino who had a eventful cameo and gave his team the vital win with his two wonderful goals.
Arsenal keen on Retegui
The Spanish tactician, Arteta has already kept Benjamin Sesko and Alexander Isak as his top targets. Although, the Italian attacker has been giving standout performances for Atalanta. Since then he is being linked to a move to Emirates Stadium.
There’s no doubt in why they are interested in him. The 25-year-old has scored a total of 23 goals in 34 games this campaign. He has also been creative and has four assists for his team.
In spite of some injury problems in December, he has been in a great run of form in 2025. Since the new year, he has netted a whopping eight goals in five Serie A games. He also scored four goals in a single game against Hellas Verona last week.
As per reports by CaughtOffside, Arsenal are already in touch with Atalanta over a potential summer move. Manchester United and other top clubs in Europe are also linked with the Italian attacker.
Meanwhile, it is claimed that Atalanta will be asking around €60 million for Retegui. The forward just joined the Bergamo outfit last summer for around €21 million. That is also a big amount but it is still less than what Isak or Sesko would cost.
Troy Deeney: Arteta is afraid of signing a proper striker
Arteta has been called out for not being able to sign a pure no.9 by Troy Deeney. Speaking to The Sun during the FA Cup game semi-final between Arsenal and Newcastle, Deeney shared his take on Mikel Arteta. He said: “It seems to me that the man in the opposing dug-out that night, Mikel Arteta, is frightened of signing a genuine No.9 like Isak.
“True centre-forwards always have that element of selfishness, of single-mindedness. They are often mavericks, they can often be disruptive, they usually have minds of their own and they live for scoring goals.
“Arsene Wenger almost always had a world-class finisher, from Ian Wright to Nicolas Anelka to Thierry Henry to Robin Van Persie. And right up to Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang in his final season. But I believe Arteta is so wrapped up in his team ethos that he shies away from signing such players.”
He added: “It seems hard to me that they have allowed themselves to get into this situation.
“Maybe it’s arrogance, maybe it’s tactical pigheadedness. But for me it’s more a case of a manager too afraid to sign a striker with a one-track mind.”
Author’s Opinion
The north London side are now already thinking about the summer transfer window. They are now left with almost no proper centre-forward options in the squad. Mateo Retegui’s links are obvious and they’ll try to get their man this time in the summer for sure.
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