Arsenal’s Most Likely Signings in the January Transfer Window: Who Could Strengthen the Gunners?

Introduction

The January transfer window is fast approaching, and for Arsenal, it could prove pivotal in the quest for silverware and top-tier performance this season. With Mikel Arteta’s squad showing significant promise but grappling with challenges like injuries, squad depth, and a relentless fixture schedule, reinforcements may be necessary to sustain momentum. Let’s take a look at who are Arsenal’s most likely signings in January.

As the Gunners aim to solidify their position in the Premier League title race and make a mark in European competitions, the right signings could turn a good season into a spectacular one. In this article, we explore Arsenal’s most likely transfer targets for January, analysing how these potential signings could address the team’s needs and elevate their prospects in 2024.

Arsenal’s Transfer Strategy for January 2024

Some fans believe Arsenal could do with a couple of reinforcements to bring some trophies back to the emirates. And this could very well happen despite arsenal having quiet winter windows in the past. On the 13th of December Arteta gave a hint that we could welcome some new faces in January. In the pre match press conference before the Everton game Mikel Arteta stated that Arsenal are “prepared” for the January transfer window and that there could be “some surprises”. The Arsenal boss also added that he never expects January to be “super busy but we will have to wait and see”.

Top Targets for Arsenal in January

1. Marcus Rashford, LW/ST, Manchester United

Rashford a 27 year old experienced Premier League player, a true legend to his boyhood club Manchester Utd. Joining the club at the age of 7 he has now spent 20 years climbing through the youth ranks and first team of Man Utd. Marcus Rashford earned himself 426 first team appearances in his time at the club scoring 138 goals and registering 63 assists an absolutely brilliant record. All of this earned the Manchester hero 60 appearances for England scoring 17 goals. Rashford recently being out of the United 11 multiple times has caused a lot of speculation he wants out being linked with a lot of clubs. Rashford told Henry Winter “For me personally, I think I’m ready for a new challenge” Due to Saka and Raheem Sterling both picking up injuries arsenal strength on the wings have really weakened. Due to this we could potentially see Marcus come to the Gunners to compete on the left with Martinelli and Trossard or potentially fill in on the right. This makes Rashford a potential target for the gunners however maybe not the most likely. Could we see this deal in January or potentially the summer?

2. Randal Kolo Muani, ST, Paris SG

Kolo Muani is a 21 year old exciting strong striker, Kolo Muani had a quick rise to the top level of football in the world taking steps showing his level everywhere he played starting his career at Nantes playing 87 games scoring 23 times and assisting 16 before he earned himself a €16 million move to Frankfurt to play in the Bundesliga where he popped! Making 50 appearances 26 goals 17 assist in one season. This got the attention of a lot of big clubs including the biggest back in France PSG who brought Randal for €80 million. However it didn’t turn out as well at PSG with 54 Apps 11G 7A and falling out of favour with the manager it will be very unlikely he stays in Paris this January. Despite him not being at his best right now we all saw what he is capable of at the Qatar world cup that he was very impressive in getting 3 Apps 1 Goal. Because of his immense ability he showed in Germany and Qatar he could be a great fit for Arsenal a club who have been deemed to need a ST ever since Aubameyang‘s form dropped. Kolo Muani is a physical strong ST who can put the ball in the back of the net with no problem after using his fast pace to get behind the defensive line and this is perfect for Arsenal. Arsenals play very physical and defensive football including a striker who can use his body to win the ball as well as the fact arsenal use a lot of physicality for set pieces witch Kolo can provide. His pace is also very important as we have seen arsenal breaking on the counter a few times however we often lack someone to put the ball in the back of the net Kolo Muani could provide a goal scoring threat Arsenal has missed for years. He has a current market value of 30 million euros so if Arteta believes the Gunners need a ST i think Kolo Muani will be the man.

3. Dani Olmo, CAM/RW, Barcelona

The 27 year old Spanish star Dani Olmo has always been a good player who went under the radar and was very underrated until Euro 2024 where fans finally acknowledged his skill as well as some large clubs like Barcelona witch he moved to from RB Leipzig. However this wasn’t his first time at Barcelona he joined La Masia arguably the best academy in the world at aged 9 from Espanyol’s Youth. Despite making the U16 Barcelona team he was let go to Dynamo Zagreb where after playing for the 2nd team for a bit he made 124 appearances scoring 34 setting up 28 becoming a potential star in the making. After his 5 years at the club Zagreb made a huge profit by selling Dani to RB Leipzig for 35 million Euros where he played 148 times scoring 29 goals and assisting his team mates 34 times. Earning himself a return to Barcelona for 60 million Euros. However he hasn’t had the best time there as Barca had options on the RW shining like Raphinia and Lamine Yamal leading to only 15 Apps, 6G/1A. Barcelona also were only able to register Dani Olmo until December 31st due to this we could see him leave on a free this new years. This has lead many to believe Olmo is on his way out in 2025 and they may be right. According to El Nacional Arsenal have already sent a proposal to Olmo alongside with rivals Manchester City both clubs have sent their first very appealing deals to the Euros 2024 winner. Dani Olmo would be a very good addition to the squad as not only would he be able to compete in that RCM role with Odegaard he could fill in RW wile Saka and Sterling are injured. With Arteta already signing 1 Euro 24 winner could we see him bring in another to bring a trophy to the Emirates?

Potential Outgoings in January

1. Kieran Tierney ,LB

A true favourite amongst the fans KT could be on his way out of Arsenal after 5 years at the club. Arsenal have recently found a lot of depth in the LB position with young stars like Myles Lewis-Skelly and Calafiori getting most games as well as experienced Zinchenko making minutes hard to come by for Tierney. With reports of his former club Celtic being interested in making an offer this January its likely we lose a fan favourite next month.

2. Jakub Kiwior, CB

Jakub Kiwior has been a strong backup option at CB and LB since he joined from Italian side Spezia. It has been hard for Kiwior to find minutes in this arsenal team only getting games because of injuries or against weaker teams because he is competing with on of the best CB partnerships in the world right now. Because of this its rumoured Napoli have had a 15 million euro offer rejected by Arsenal for the Pole and that they would only let Jakub return to Italy for 25 million euro.

Arsenal’s Historical January Window Success

Could us Gooners fall in love with another star this January just like we did 4 years ago with our now captain Martin Odegaard. On the 27th of Jan 2021 we signed Martin Odegaard on loan from Real Madrid for the remainder of the season and instantly fell in love with how he orchestrated our games making 20 Apps with 2/2 G/A before we paid 30 million euros and signed him permanently the following summer and the rest is history.