Arsenal 'ready to pay player's £85m release clause in January' and it may swing the title race in their favour

Arsenal are reportedly ready to make a big move in the January transfer window to address their forward options ahead of a Premier League title push.

The Gunners have been Manchester City’s closest challengers in the Premier League for the last two seasons, and finished just two points short in 2023/24.

Mikel Arteta has been rightly praised for rebuilding this Arsenal side and turning them into a formidable unit defensively.

Riccardo Calafiori and Mikel Merino were signed last summer in a bid to end City’s Premier League dominance.

But a failure to sign another striker has left Arsenal struggling in front of goal, and they lie fourth in the Premier League table – nine points off leaders Liverpool.

The Gunners’ last match before the international break was a 1-1 draw with Chelsea, and Leandro Trossard’s failure to score with the last kick of the game left fans frustrated and calling for January reinforcements.

And a solution could reportedly be on the way.

According to the Daily Mail, Arsenal are ready to pay an £85m release clause for West Ham forward Mohamed Kudus to help solve their goalscoring issues.

The move could reportedly happen in either the January transfer window or next summer.

Kudus enjoyed an excellent first season for the Hammers, scoring 18 times in all competitions following his move from Ajax.

Kudus- Getty

He has scored just twice so far this campaign, and has been suspended for three games following his red card against Tottenham.

Arteta has admitted that his side’s difficulties in front of goal are costing them.

Speaking ahead of the Chelsea fixture, the Arsenal boss said: “When you don’t win it affects the energy. The positive thing is there is nobody outside who wants to win more than me or those players. It is impossible.

“But you need to take that into winning a football match. That’s the only thing that people are going to judge. You can overrun the opponent you can outperform the opponent in every single way. It’s about whether you scored a goal. That’s the problem. The problem has to be resolved by scoring more goals than the opponents. That’s it.”