Arsenal might have broken the record for the most goals scored in an away knockout Champions League game on Tuesday, but ask their fans what they need, and most will still say a striker.
The Gunners failed to bring one in last summer and, despite losing Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Jesus before it slammed shut, did so again in the winter window.
This need for another goalscoring forward has only been made more acute by further injuries to Gabriel Martinelli and Kai Havertz.
Worse still, one of the club’s promising youngsters, Mika Biereth, was sold for next to nothing in the summer and is now scoring for fun in Ligue 1, and there is a chance that the club might have already repeated a similar mistake with another forward.
Why selling Biereth was a big mistake by Arsenal
So, it should be said that hindsight is a wonderful thing, and it’s easy to say that Arsenal’s decision to sell Biereth for £4m plus a sell-on clause in the summer was the wrong decision, but even at the time, it didn’t look like a great deal.
For example, across two loan spells last season with Motherwell and Sturm Graz, the Danish poacher racked up an impressive haul of 15 goals and nine assists in just 37 appearances, which comes out to an average of a goal involvement every 1.54 games.
He’s done even better this year, as in 35 games for Sturm Graz and AS Monaco, the 22-year-old has scored 24 goals and provided seven assists, which works out to a goal involvement every 1.12 games.
On top of having the raw output, the London-born marksman’s underlying numbers are also excellent.
According to FBref, he sits in the top 1% of forwards across Europe’s top five leagues, the Champions League and Europa League, for non-penalty goals plus assists, actual non-penalty goals, goals per shot and shot on target, average shot distance and more, all per 90.
Non-Penalty Expected G+As
0.86
Top 1%
Actual Non-Penalty Goals
0.89
Top 1%
Goals per Shot
0.34
Top 1%
Goals per Shot on Target
0.69
Top 1%
Average Shot Distance
10.40
Top 1%
Goals
0.97
Top 2%
Interceptions
0.41
Top 5%
Penalties Won
0.08
Top 13%
In short, while it might have seemed like a decent fee for someone who hadn’t played for the first team at the time, it now looks like a massive underpay for a youngster who could be a superstar in the making, and it would appear as if a similar mistake was made last year regarding another promising forward.
Arsenal's Biereth repeat
Arsenal have let many young stars leave too early in the past, from Michael Olise to Eberechi Eze and even Harry Kane.
Arteta and Co will be hoping that Chido Obi-Martin is not the latest youngster to leave the club and become a world-class international, but as things stand, that feels like a distinct possibility.
Now, it should be said that while it was a mistake to happily sell Biereth to Sturm Graz, the club actually reportedly tried to keep Obi-Martin on the books but were unable to do so.
Therefore, it’s not the same mistake in the sense that they got rid of him, but it was perhaps a mistake that they weren’t able to prove staying at Hale End was the best for his development. Why? Well, the youngster’s record in junior football is simply staggering.
For example, in just 24 appearances last season, totalling 1616 minutes, the “goalscoring machine,” as dubbed by talent scout Jacek Kulig, put the ball in the back of the net 32 times and provided three assists for good measure.
Appearances
24
Minutes
1616′
Goals
32
Assists
3
Goal Involvements per Match
1.45
Minutes per Goal Involvement
46.05′
That means he averaged 1.45 goal involvements per game or one every 46.17 minutes.
Having moved away for a small compensation fee, he’s also scoring for fun at Carrington this season, racking up a tally of 12 goals and two assists in 12 appearances for the Red Devils’ youth sides.
Moreover, he’s now made three first-team appearances, and while he’s yet to score, he’s looked lively in them.
That was particularly the case against Fulham in the FA Cup last weekend where Obi fashioned a number of chances for himself, notably being denied late on courtesy of a wonderful save by ex-Gunner Bernd Leno.
Ultimately, Arsenal have been blessed with some incredible youth players in recent years, but given their dire need for more goalscorers, we can’t help but think selling Biereth and not being able to keep hold of Obi-Martin could come back to haunt them in a big way.
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ByJack Salveson HolmesMar 6, 2025
