The transfer window finally comes to a close tomorrow night, and after a painfully slow start to the summer, Arsenal have been relatively busy of late.
On Tuesday afternoon, the club finally announced the signing of Spanish midfielder Mikel Merino, who joins Riccardo Calafiori as the only new addition to Mikel Arteta's first team.
However, while incomings have been a little light on the ground, Edu Gaspar and Co have been busy dealing with outgoings.
For example, Emile Smith Rowe moved to Fulham at the start of the month for up to £34m, Fabio Vieira has returned to Porto for a season-long loan, and most recently, Fabrizio Romano confirmed that Eddie Nketiah is on his way to Crystal Palace for a fee that could reach £30m.
While these deals are undoubtedly positive, the departure of the 25-year-old does mean that the striker position is now a little light, which could explain why the club have now been linked to an experienced centre-forward who'd be an ideal replacement for Nketiah.
Arsenal transfer news
According to a recent report from Caught Offside, Arsenal are one of several clubs interested in signing Everton striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin before the window slams shut tomorrow night.
Alongside the Gunners, the report claims that Chelsea and Newcastle United are also keen on the Englishman, with all three sides seeing him as a potentially cheaper option on the market at present.
The report does not mention how much the transfer could cost any of the interested teams, but due to the player's desire to leave Goodison Park this summer and his £100k-per-week contract expiring next year, he probably wouldn't cost very much.
It might not be a transfer that gets the fans on their feet, but it is worth pursuing given his raw ability, the chance for a cut-price fee, and Arsenal's need for a new backup striker.
Why Calvert-Lewin would be a good Nketiah replacement
Okay, so the first thing to clear up is that if this deal does happen, it will likely do so with the intention of Calvert-Lewin stepping into the role vacated by Nketiah, meaning that while he would hopefully get some more game time than the Englishman did last season, he would undoubtedly be a backup option to the likes of Kai Havertz and Gabriel Jesus.
Therefore, comparing the Toffees ace's output to theirs would be pointless. Instead, it's worth looking at why he would be a good replacement for the outgoing 25-year-old, and the first is that while he has struggled in recent seasons, he clearly has talent.
For example, the last season in which he played over 2500 minutes came back in 2020/21, and in the 39 appearances he made for the Merseysiders that campaign, he racked up a seriously impressive haul of 21 goals and three assists, equating to an average of a goal involvement once every 1.62 games.
In fact, in his 249 appearances for Everton to date, the 6 foot 2 "monster", as dubbed by football talent scout Jacek Kulig, has found the back of the net on 68 occasions and provided 18 assists to boot, meaning he has averaged a goal involvement every 2.89 games for the club.
In contrast, in his 168 first-team appearances for the Gunners, Nketiah has scored 38 goals and provided seven assists, equating to an average of a goal involvement every 3.73 games.
Appearances
249
168
Goals
68
38
Assists
18
7
Goal Involvements per Match
0.34
0.26
Ultimately, will Calvert-Lewin come in and fire Arsenal to the Premier League title? No, but he is an upgrade on the team's current backup striker, and in the games in which Havertz and Jesus need to rest, he could prove incredibly useful.
Therefore, so long as the fee is small and it does not impact the club's search for a game-changing forward, Edu and Co should look to bring the Everton ace to N5 before the window closes tomorrow night.
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