Arsenal's first half display away to Leicester City on Saturday exposed their struggles without a recognised senior striker in their squad. The injury to Kai Havertz on the training trip to Dubai reduced the Gunners to just three fit attackers, and none of them posed much of a goal threat in the first half.
Ethan Nwaneri did step up in a big way in the second half at the King Power, but the game was won by the introduction of Mikel Merino, a man who has spent his entire career playing in midfield, and yet scored twice on what was his first ever appearance as a striker.
Mikel Arteta and his coaching staff deserve as much credit for dreaming up the idea as Merino does for executing it. As unconventional as the solution was, it's hard to argue with a striker who comes on in a goalless game and scores twice to secure a 2 - 0 win.
The travelling Arsenal fans sung Merino's name pretty much constantly from the moment he opened the scoring to the final whistle about 17 minutes later.
But when the Gunners were searching for a solution to Bukayo Saka's long-term absence, the fan favourite options were overlooked in favour of Nwaneri, a 17-year-old star of the future who is already looking pretty special. Few Arsenal fans would argue with his selection until Saka's return.
So is Merino really the striker Arsenal need? Or are there better options waiting either on the bench or in other positions on the pitch.
Mikel Merino
When Mikel Merino woke up on Saturday morning, he was a midfielder with two goals to his name this season. By the time 3pm came around, he was a striker with four.
The Spaniard didn't come on until the 68th-minute at the King Power, and although Arsenal had certainly stepped up their tempo in the second half, they were still lacking a target man; Merino provided that.
His first goal on Saturday was very much like his first Premier League goal, which came against Liverpool in October. Even though the header earlier in the season was from a set piece, this weekend's was still a result of a perfectly timed run to meet a precise delivery.
Arsenal hadn't been able to put such a ball in from open play until Merino came on simply because there was no target to aim for in the middle until his introduction.
Merino's second was even more striker-like. With Arsenal flying forward on the counter attack, the number 23 adjusted his initially central run to arrive at the back post and tuck home a perfect cross from Leandro Trossard.
The run and composure on display made Merino look like a striker. Of course this optimism comes after just 29 minutes playing up front, and perhaps the biggest concern for the Gunners if they do use Merino in this position is that they lose an excellent midfielder.
So if Arsenal do want Merino available to play in the middle of the park, they'll have to turn to someone else to play as the number nine.
Leandro Trossard
Although Trossard was largely ineffective up front on Saturday afternoon, he's often clinical in front of goal.
He's scored big goals in big moments in his two years at the Emirates, including a crucial goal in last season's title race against Liverpool and an equaliser against Bayern Munich in the Champions League.
It's worth remembering though that playing as a striker for Arsenal, as it the case with many modern football teams, doesn't just involve getting on the end of attacking moves; it also involves starting them.
Kai Havertz was always a player whose importance was likely to be appreciate more when he was missing, and that was the case for Arsenal's trip to the King Power.
Havertz is fantastic at timing his runs and pressing from the front. The Gunners scored three of their five goals against Manchester City by winning the ball back high up the pitch, and with Trossard up front this simply didn't look likely to happen.
That's not to say the Belgian wasn't putting in the effort; he was making several runs in behind and back into midfield, but they simply weren't timed as well as Havertz has managed earlier in the season (or Merino in the last 20 minutes).
Creating chances is often an issue for Arsenal, but Havertz is a target man who can be sought out the majority of the time. Trossard, however clinical he may be, will never get as many chances in this Arsenal team as a more natural centre-forward would.
Ethan Nwaneri
Nwaneri posses a sort of confidence and natural swagger than cannot be taught. The winger is in fine form and is actually Arsenal's top goalscorer among currently available players, with their top four scorers of 2024/2025 all out injured.
The 17-year-old was bitterly unlucky not to score on Saturday, hitting the woodwork twice in the second half, before providing an elegant assist to Mikel Merino for the opening goal.
While he's not as physical as Kai Havertz, Nwaneri is still perfectly capable of getting past opponents, just through dazzling footwork rather than brute force.
But the main appeal to Nwaneri is how adaptable he's already proven himself to be. The Arsenal man is naturally a midfielder and has already played and an eight and a ten this season, before moving out to right wing to cover for the injured Bukayo Saka.
Given how much more effective Trossard is on the wing or in midfield for the Gunners, it may be worth at trying Nwaneri through the middle, especially if Declan Rice keeps making the aggresive forward runs that he made on Saturday in the coming games.
But if it's a natural centre-forward the Gunners are looking for, barring an unlikely move for a free agent, Mikel Arteta will have to once again turn to his academy.
Nathan Butler-Oyedeji
As well as being a fantastic name for commentators to bellow at the top of their lungs, Nathan Butler-Oyedeji is a promising young talent.
No youth player has had to be as patient as Butler-Oyedeji, who joined Arsenal in May 2011, but didn't make his debut until last month's Champions League win over Dinamo Zagreb.
Through his years at Hale End, the forward has played on both wings and through the middle, a path followed by many Arsenal academy products.
His explosive pace make him a threat to any Premier League defence, as does his exceptional work rate.
Butler-Oyedeji started this season with Arsenal U21s in the Premier League 2, and having won the Player of the Month award for August in the division, he has been with the first team since the start of 2025, including for the trip to Dubai.
Loan spells at Accrington Stanley and Cheltenham Town haven't gone brilliantly for the 22-year-old, who won't be eligible to play for Arsenal's academy sides from next season.
But if anything this will give the forward even more incentive to show what he can do in the second half of the season, as he looks to secure first team football next season, whether at Arsenal or elsewhere.
Khayon Edwards
If Arsenal want to pick a natural striker from their academy, it's Khayon Edwards. The forward is a big, physical player who knows where the back of the net is.
There were doubts over Edwards after he returned from a loan spell at Leyton Orient without a goal, but the striker has responded in style this term, scoring eight and assisting two in 11 Premier League 2 appearances.
He was also part of the Arsenal U21s team that beat his former loan club Orient 2 - 1 in the EFL Trophy back in September.
Even before injuries to Havertz and Jesus, Arsenal have been crying out for a natural target man, someone who gets in the right place at the right time to put the ball in the back of the net; Edwards could be this player.
The Mikel Merino solution was undoubtedly effective against Leicester this weekend, but Arsenal can't necessarily rely on a career-long midfielder to be their striker for the next month.
Nwaneri is an option, but realistically his outstanding displays at right wing mean it's unlikely that Arteta would remove him from this position.
Therefore, turning to the academy once again is a real possibility for Arsenal. A combination of international football and defeats in both cup competitions means that the Gunners only have six matches in the next 43 days.
While this is more than other points in the season, it's very little compared to sides still competing in cup competitions. This will be a tough period for Arsenal, but it may not be the threat to their title challenge that it's being talked up to be.
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