Arsenal manager Jonas Eidevall says he still hopes to bring in a striker in January to add to his title chasing Arsenal Women squad. The Gunners have already added goalkeeper Sabrina D’Angelo, midfielders Katherine Kuhl and Victoria Pelova and recalled Brazilian forward Gio Queiroz on loan from Everton.
However, having lost Beth Mead and Vivianne Miedema to ACL injuries, Eidevall is still insistent that the squad needs extra firepower in this window and Arsenal have interest in Benfica’s Canadian striker Cloe Lacasse.
When asked if a striker signing was possible in his pre-Brighton press conference, he answered, “I hope so.”
When pushed on why he feels a striker acquisition is necessary, the Arsenal coach explained, “I used the word ‘prolific’ goal scorer and that is still my plan and a consequence of having Viv (Miedema) and Beth (Mead) injured for the rest of the season is that we have lost a lot of our historical scoring contributions.
“Of course, we can work on ways where we can find that internally but my idea is still that we need to find someone external to help us with that.”
🚨UPDATE: Understand that the Cloé Lacasse deal is a bit tricky. Arsenal does not seem to want to pay the price Benfica is asking and can’t seal the deal.
So the saga continues… pic.twitter.com/I2FcoIzBhQ
— Amanda Zaza (@amandaezaza) January 16, 2023
Arsenal have had outgoings in January too, with Jordan Nobbs sold to Aston Villa and on Thursday, Mana Iwabuchi’s loan to Tottenham Hotspur was confirmed.
Eidevall explained the rationale behind the move. “Mana needed to be in an environment when she needed to play more and, of course, with a player like Mana there are a lot of interested clubs.
“Then it is not really my business to decide which club we make the transfer to, that is the player’s decision and the club that do that work.”
Further to this, Arseblog News asked Eidevall whether the cap on homegrown players in WSL squads was of concern to him with Jordan Nobbs leaving the club and Anna Patten out on loan at Aston Villa.
“If I am completely honest, I am aware of the rule but we have an organisation where we have other people with that as their responsibility.
“Our main priority is to look in our own academy first and then to look in the local areas to try to find the best fit. No matter the rules, we try to find players who have a natural connection to this area and Arsenal. But there are other people in the organisation who are better to ask that question than me.”
Let’s hope that the club have other striker targets in case Benfica stand firm on Lacasse’s asking price.
Benfica demand very high prices when selling to English and Spanish clubs on the men’s side so wouldn’t be surprised if they are insisting we pay over the odds for a 29 year old. Hopefully there is a good plan B.
As soon as I read the Header…I thought “Benfica know our situation and are trying to screw us”.