Arsenal’s season seemed to stumble halfway through the 2023-24 campaign, failing to win in four Premier League games in a row and sparking talk of needing a striker in January.

Now strikers seem to be dominating the rumour mill for the Gunners once again, but do they actually need a new centre forward?

Eddie Nketiah, Gabriel Jesus, Leandro Trossard and Kai Havertz shared the number nine duties throughout the season, scoring 20 goals when playing up top, 34 in total when adding in Trossard’s goals from the wing and Havertz’s goals from midfield.

In comparison, Erling Haaland alone scored 27 league goals for Premier League champions Manchester City.

Signing a striker seems an obvious move but, in reality, the Gunners scored their highest number of goals in a Premier League season with 91 in total.

And those goals contributed to Arsenal’s highest-ever top-flight win total, with 28 victories in 38 outings.

During those four turbulent games in December, Jesus started through the middle and missed several gilt-edge chances that proved costly.

But after that, Trossard filled in to good effect before Havertz ended the season in fine form.

The striker position for Arsenal is about more than just goals, though.

Mikel Arteta demands an all-action forward who can help lead the press, win aerial duals, and link the play, similar to Roberto Firmino for Liverpool under Jurgen Klopp.

Havertz fits a lot of these attributes and is coming off of his second highest goalscoring season ever with 13 league goals.

But only scoring 13 goals is part of the concern should Arsenal decide to stick with him for next season.

There’s no denying he grew into the role, but is it too great a risk to rely on someone who historically doesn’t score a large volume of goals?

The Gunners have already been linked with Napoli’s Victor Osihmen, Sporting’s Viktor Gyokeren and Leipzig’s Benjamin Sesko this window, the latter just signing a new deal, but the potential price and lack of options on the market may prove an issue.

Strengthening the midfield, with a lack of options for the left central midfield role, and a wide forward may be enough for Arsenal to stick with what they have when it comes to the striker position.