Igor Thiago highly-rated at Arsenal as Mikel Arteta desperate for new No.9

Igor Thiago is highly-rated at Arsenal, with Mikel Arteta making it clear that a new No.9 is needed to elevate the team, reports Indy Kaila.

The Gunners won the Premier League and were Champions League runners-up this season. They assembled one of the best squads in Europe and that was clear right to the end of the campaign, when they missed out on European silverware on penalties.

But per reports, Arteta wants to go a step further, to increase the gap in England and go one better in Europe.

He's said to have made it clear that a new No.9 is needed to elevate the team, amid pressure in regards to current starting striker Viktor Gyokeres.

It's reported that the signing of the Swede hasn't worked, and Arteta knows bringing in the right striker is crucial to their ambitions, with the club hoping they can go to the next level.

Brentford's Thiago is said to be highly-rated as the club's potential new No.9.

The Bees man, in his first proper season in the Premier League after playing only a handful of times in his debut campaign due to injury, bagged 22 goals and was second only to Erling Haaland in that metric.

Gyokeres scored 14 times in the league, and he had a few slow spells, finding it tough to replicate the form he had shown in the previous two years for Sporting CP.

On the surface, Thiago is a better option, but there's no guarantee he'll be able to continue his form from Brentford, though he has the benefit of that having been in the same league as he'd move to with Arsenal.

Arteta ready to make big calls

There is indeed a chance that Arteta could turn his back on some of his current players, suggesting he could look to change after Arsenal were beaten in the Champions League final.

He said: “We'll start to make some very important decisions if we want to reach another level.

“And we're going to have to show that ambition because we are more than capable of doing it, but it's going to demand us to be very ambitious, very fast and very smart.”

Gyokeres helped the Gunners reach the final, scoring five goals, including an important one in the first leg of the semi-final victory over Atletico Madrid.

But that was the only goal the Swede scored in the knockouts, with Arsenal only scoring more than once in a single game once in their seven knockout fixtures.

While getting rid might seem harsh after a decent first season, if they feel Thiago will push them streets ahead of where Gyokeres has done leading the line, it would not be a surprise to see that move attempted.