Arsenal and Mikel Arteta are facing a massive January transfer window headache amid reports that club captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is keen to leave next month.
Speaking on The Transfer Window podcast, journalist Ian McGarry claims the striker's representatives have made it very clear to the the Gunners hierarchy that their client wants a move away, with two La Liga giants said to interested.
This bombshell comes just hours after the north London outfit were beaten 2-1 by Chelsea in Arteta's first home game as head coach - a fixture in which Aubameyang opened the scoring.
If reports are true and Aubameyang does indeed want to leave the Gunners next month, if he gets his wish that would leave a massive void in the squad for the second half of the season.
That would pose Arteta's biggest problem since becoming head coach.
Replacing someone with Aubameyang's goal record would prove almost impossible, but we at football.london have taken a look at five players Arsenal should target in the January transfer window should the club captain depart.
Luka Jovic
Club: Real Madrid
Age:22
Goals this season: 1
Forcing Karim Benzema out of the starting line-up was always going to be a tough ask for Jovic following his summer transfer, but he showed at Eintracht Frankfurt that he's got an eye for goal.
It just so happens that Aubameyang is being linked with a move to the Spanish capital and that would push the Serbian even further down the pecking order at the Santiago Bernabeu.
How about a swap deal which would see Jovic make the switch to the Emirates Stadium and fill the void Aubameyang would have created?
Moussa Dembele
Club: Lyon
Age: 23
Goals this season: 10
Last week French publication Le10sport reported that Arsenal have made Dembele one of their top transfer priorities for the January window.
One would imagine this process would speed up should Aubameyang depart.
With 10 Ligue 1 goals in 18 appearances this season, the former Fulham and Celtic striker seems like the natural replacement for the Gunners skipper given his goalscoring record.
Donyell Malen
Club: PSV Eindhoven
Age: 20
Goals this season: 15
Donyell Malen will be a name familiar to Arsenal supporters and he was on the books at the Emirates for a couple of years before being sold to PSV Eindhoven in the summer of 2017.
That might have been a mistake on the Gunners' part as Malen has shot to prominence this season and has even made his senior international debut for the Netherlands.
According to Tuttosport - via the Sun - it could take as much as £50m for PSV to do business with any interested party.
Wilfried Zaha
Club: Crystal Palace
Age: 27
Goals this season: 3
This would not be a straight swap, of course. But it could help solve another one of Arsenal's issues which is the lack of a natural left-sided player.
It's the position Aubameyang has played in frequently to accommodate Alexandre Lacazette in the starting line-up, but signing Zaha would give the Gunners' front three a better balance.
With that said, the onus would be on Lacazette to improve on his goalscoring record and for Zaha to weigh in with more than the three he's managed at Crystal Palace so far this season.
Ousmane Dembele
Club: Barcelona
Age: 22
Goals this season: 3
In an ideal world, Dembele and Aubameyang would be reunited at Arsenal and that partnership would be central to the Gunners' chances of sealing a return to the Champions League in 2020.
Similar to Zaha, the Frenchman would not be a like for like replacement for his former Borussia Dortmund teammate, but would be another option for the flanks.
The arrival of Antoine Griezmann has pushed Dembele down th pecking order at the Camp Nou, yet he still has enormous talent. Where better to fulfil it other than at the Emirates.
