Arsenal legend Alan Smith thinks his former club will be on the lookout for a “top quality centre-forward” during the January transfer window.

Speaking exclusively to Gooner News (courtesy of Best Betting Sites UK), Smith said that the Gunners can rely on their backline to secure victories, but they may still strengthen at the top end of the pitch:

“The first thing to say would be that they don’t need to score as many as any other team, really, because they’ve got the best defence going. But yeah, of course, they want a centre forward, and it’s going to be interesting. You’re hearing one or two stories about them going in in January, that there might be a target, and that would improve the team if it was a top-quality centre forward.”

“I still think they’ll create chances, maybe not as many as some other teams. And the old 1-0 to the Arsenal, it might be more prevalent than it has been. But when you’re working off the base of a clean sheet, you don’t need to be too prolific.”

Arsenal are joint 5th for goals scored

Mikel Arteta’s side have found the back of the net 14 times in 9 Premier League fixtures this season, which puts them level with the likes of Bournemouth and Ipswich Town

Brighton, Manchester City, Chelsea and even Brentford have managed to score more than them.

Which strikers could be targeted?

The three players who have been most heavily linked with a move to the Emirates over the past couple of weeks have been Bournemouth’s Junior Kroupi, Club Brugge’s Nicolo Tresoldi and Real Madrid’s Endrick.

Out of those options, only of them has Premier League experience (Kroupi), and they are all pretty young. The oldest is Tresoldi at 22 years of age.

You would say Kroupi is probably the best suited to strengthen the frontline. His goal record in English football is excellent, and he can also be deployed on the left flank if required. The main obstacle would be the asking price. Bournemouth are expected to demand in excess of €100m (£83.3m) for the player.