Arsenal have been terrible this season.
There simply isn’t any getting around it, and when one looks at the statistics, it only becomes all the more worrying.
The Gunners are currently 15th in the Premier League table.
Of their 12 games this season, they have won just four. Mikel Arteta’s men have also scored just 10 goals this season – a lower number than 18th-placed Fulham – and have lost more games than both Brighton & Hove Albion and Burnley.
Indeed, Arteta’s men sit just five points clear of the relegation zone, and are already 10 points behind fourth-placed Southampton and 12 behind leaders Tottenham Hotspur.
Their 1-0 defeat to Burnley at the Emirates Stadium was the nadir of their season so far but it seems steps are being taken to somehow correct the ship.
Sport Witness carries a report from Le10Sport claiming that the Gunners are eyeing Ligue 1 striker Boulaye Dia.
He currently plays for Stade de Reims and has been in electric form this season, scoring eight goals in just 12 appearances.
That record puts him second in the Ligue 1 top scorers chart, only behind PSG superstar Kylian Mbappe, who has scored 10 goals in 10 games.
Dia is a Senegal international who can play on the right wing as well as up front and this is really the first season that he has begun to hit the back of the net with any regularity.
Indeed, he scored seven times in 24 games last season, having netted three in 18 the season prior.
Clearly he is on an upward trajectory and he has been linked with other Premier League clubs; the report claims Brighton were interested in the summer, while Everton are also given a mention.
Dia is valued at £7.2m by Transfermarkt and he has a contract until 2022 in France.
GIVEMESPORT’S Harry Sherlock says…
Any solution will do at the moment.
The Gunners have run into a real problem: They just can’t score goals.
Arteta’s men have netted once in their last five games, and even that came in a 2-1 defeat to Wolves.
Bringing in a player who knows where the goal is and can routinely hit the back of the net has to be a priority in January.
It would be a big step up for Dia, who has only ever played for Reims, but he has been in fine form this season.
He would also be a relatively inexpensive acquisition for the Gunners; given how bad they’ve been, this has to be worth a punt.