Arsenal’s January transfer priority becomes clear in Southampton draw

Arsenal’s Premier League title credentials will be called into question after the Gunners were held to a 1-1 draw by struggling Southampton at St Mary’s on Sunday and it’s clear Mikel Arteta’s side may need some fresh energy in January in order to sustain a genuine challenge this season. The league leaders were largely dominant in the first half and could easily have extended their lead had it not been for Saints goalkeeper Gavin Bazunu, who made several important saves for his team.

Arsenal were also wasteful in front of goal but after Granit Xhaka opened the scoring, the visitors looked on course for another routine victory after winning nine of their 10 matches prior to the trip to the South Coast.

Nonetheless, the draw may not actually be the worst outcome for the Gunners in the long term, as it brought them back down to earth and hands Arteta plenty to analyse following his side’s excellent start to the campaign.

It was not a bad part performance from the Gunners but they lacked inspiration when Southampton started to force their way back into the contest. Much of that is due to the lack of top-quality options Arsenal have available from the bench in certain areas of the field.

Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli have been sublime this term but they cannot always be relied on when Arsenal need a moment of magic. Martin Odegaard was wasteful despite an effective display, while Gabriel Jesus was frustrated in the final third in his attempts to find the net.

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Martinelli and Saka are in need of some rest and right now, Arsenal cannot operate at the same level without them.

Arsenal wanted to sign another wide forward in the summer transfer window but they could not find the right fit for their project.

Edu, rightfully so, does not want to rush into signing any player for the sake of it. Instead, he wants quality over quantity for Arteta.

Pedro Neto, Moussa Diaby and Yeremy Pino were all of interest in August but Arsenal may now have to broaden their search for another attacker ahead of the opening of the January window.

Should the Gunners be hit by injuries in attack, it could be enough to potentially have a harmful impact on their season.

In defence, Arsenal are well-stocked and that is currently epitomised by left-back Kieran Tierney sitting on the bench – even when summer signing Oleksandr Zinchenko is on the sidelines with an injury.

Ben White is also playing out of position at right-back because of the depth Arsenal have at the heart of defence.

A central midfielder could also be on the agenda but for now, the priority for January has to be another winger. It could really prove the difference come the end of the season.