Depleted Arsenal in need of striker saviour – Who is academy striker Nathan Butler-Oyedeji?

​

One first-team appearance 

©TM/IMAGO

Many Arsenal fans were as much flabbergasted as disappointed after the club failed to bring in a single player during the January transfer window. Every supporter wants reinforcements brought in to aid their team in January, but it felt like Arsenal needed it. Star winger Bukayo Saka had surgery on his hamstring back in December – he hasn’t played since and is expected to be out until at least March. Striker Gabriel Jesus suffered an ACL injury in early January and won’t play again this season. The Gunners already had something of a thin forward line before those injuries, but with that added, they were seriously short of depth in the attacking positions.

Matters got worse two days after the transfer window shut when Gabriel Martinelli limped off with a hamstring injury. He would later be ruled out for at least a month. Then, just when Arsenal thought things couldn’t get worse, Kai Havertz, the only recognised striker in their squad, was ruled out for the rest of the season with his own hamstring injury, picked up on their mid-season trip in Dubai. It means that Arsenal’s only first-team options across their front three for the foreseeable future are Leandro Trossard, Raheem Sterling and Ethan Nwaneri. Nwaneri is just 17 years old, Sterling is on loan and is yet to score a Premier League goal for the club, whilst many feel Trossard is more suited to being an impact substitute at the Emirates.

However, with the transfer window now shut, there’s not much Arsenal can do. Some fans have called for the club to bring in an emergency free agent to the club such as Diego Costa or former Gunner Carlos Vela, but this seems unlikely given both are into their late 30s. There aren’t many more options out there. Some have suggested that Mikel Arteta may look to play midfielder Mikel Merino as a make-shift striker, or left-back Kieran Tierney as a make-shift left-winger. Both options are far from ideal. But one man who may now have to step up is academy centre-forward Nathan Butler-Oyedeji.

Following the news of Havertz’s injury on Wednesday, Butler-Oyedeji has been one of the most searched profiles on the Transfermarkt website. Having joined Arsenal’s academy aged just eight, the London-born forward worked his way through the youth ranks, first representing the Arsenal U18s in the 2019/20 season. In total he has played 29 games for the U18, scoring just three goals and providing only two assists. However, once promoted to Arsenal U21, his numbers have drastically improved. Between the 2020/21 campaign and this season, Butler-Oyedeji had played as many as 60 games for the U21s, scoring 20 goals and providing 12 assists.

Butler-Oyedeji has also spent time out on loan in England’s lower divisions. He has had loan spells at both Accrington Stanley and Cheltenham, but failed to make an impact at either. He didn’t register a single goal in 11 games at Accrington nor 14 matches at Cheltenham. Now 22 years of age, it has taken sometime for Butler-Oyedeji to get his chance in Arsenal’s first-team, but on January 22 his patience finally paid off. Arteta brought on the young striker for the dying minute of the Gunners 3-0 victory over Dinamo Zagreb in the Champions League. He wasn’t even on the pitch long enough to touch the ball, but did get to finally embrace the feeling of wearing the Arsenal shirt in front of 60,000 supporters at the Emirates stadium.

Now due to Arsenal’s injury crisis up-top, Butler-Oyedeji could be set to get more minutes for the Gunners. It’s likely that the front three Arteta will opt with will be Sterling, Trossard, and Nwaneri, but those three can’t be expected to play every minute of every game. And when it comes to other options up-front, Butler-Oyedeji may now just be the next in line. He has scored seven goals for the Gunners in the Premier League 2, and won the PL2 Player of the Month award in August. He has a current market value of just €100k, but now may just get his long-awaited chance. Next up for Arsenal, a trip to struggling Leicester this Saturday lunchtime.