As Gabriel Jesus’ serious knee injury leaves Arsenal light in attack, Ally McCoist reckons they should be looking at former Chelsea striker Tammy Abraham.
Jesus suffered an ACL injury in the FA Cup clash with Manchester United on Sunday, which will keep him out for the rest of the season.
It is devastating news for the Brazilian who had recently returned to form and a regular place in the starting XI.
It is also more bad news for Mikel Arteta, who is already missing the most important part of his front three as Bukayo Saka is not expected back until late March through injury.
There had been a school of thought that Arsenal needed a striker even before these injuries and their need for more firepower is now more apparent than ever.
McCoist says that will cost them dearly if they make a move for a forward this month, but picking out one option for them, he reckons Abraham would be a good choice.
‘Seemingly it’s taken an injury to Gabriel Jesus to push them over the line in going to get a centre-forward. Which is something that should have happened a long time ago,’ the Scot told talkSPORT.
‘Who do they get? The thing is now, the selling club know that they’re desperate. Absolutely desperate. £20m becomes £30m, £40m becomes £50m and they’ve only got themselves to blame for that situation.
‘One that’s going under the radar a little bit…Tammy Abraham.
‘They just need somebody that can effectively stand in the six-yard box and score goals. That’s what they need.
‘You look at the plentiful chances they create and if you’re a centre-forward and a goal-scorer you’d fancy yourself in that team, you’d fancy yourself for 20-25 goals a season.’
England international Abraham is on a season-long loan at AC Milan from Roma, where he has scored six goals in 22 appearances across all competitions.
On Arsenal’s transfer plans this month, Arteta says the club are looking for opportunities, but that was the case before Jesus suffered his season-ending injury.
‘My answer doesn’t change, it remains the same – we are actively looking in the market to improve the squad, and that’s been the same since day one,’ he told a press conference.
‘It would be naive not to do that because it is always an opportunity to evolve the team and improve the squad, especially with the circumstances. So yes, we are looking and we are trying and let’s see what we are able to do.’