Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has his eyes set on Cristiano Ronaldo’s replacement in the Portugal national team, and he has been told what he will have to do in order to sign the striker in January – and it’s something the Gunners have only ever done once before.

The North London side have found themselves short on firepower this season, with both Viktor Gyokeres and Kai Havertz struggling to provide the volume of goals their club wishes.

Arsenal may be top of the Premier League, but Arteta’s ambitious personality has the defending champions persistently aiming to improve, and the lack of a regular scorer is proving a headache.

The Spaniard is ready to turn to Monza striker Gustavo Varela to solve his problems, with the 21-year-old Portuguese having exploded this season in Serie A.

His return of 11 goals in ten matches across all competitions is extraordinary, particularly for a player featuring for a side in the relegation zone.

Varela has benefitted from Ronaldo’s international retirement to be called into the Portugal national team for the first time by Jorge Jesus, while he has caught the eye of clubs around Europe – including Arsenal.

Monza, meanwhile, are eyeing a transfer jackpot from a player they only signed from Benfica in July for just €2.5 million, albeit the Portuguese side retains a 20% sell-on clause.

The Serie A club have placed an asking price of between €40-50m on the head of their new superstar.

Arsenal face rare January transfer dilemma

Arsenal are not in the habit of making big-money moves during the January transfer window, and while signing Varela around that price point would represent a relatively small summer investment, it is huge compared to their typical mid-season signing.

The last time the Gunners did any significant business during the in-season window was January 2023, when they spent €55m signing Leandro Trossard, Jakub Kiwior and Jorginho.

Trossard remains the most expensive player that Arteta has signed in a January transfer period, with his fee from Brighton €24m.

Indeed, even the lower end of Monza’s asking price for Varela would represent a remarkable investment for Arsenal. The Gunners have only once spent more than €40m in January previously, the 2018 deal for Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang that saw the striker arrive from Dortmund.

Would Arsenal move for that type of price?

Varela is not the type of investment that Arsenal typically make mid-season.

On top of this, his Estimated Transfer Value (ETV) is only €7.6m. Although this has shot up since the beginning of the season off the back of his excellent form, the sample size of games remains small, meaning there is still significant uncertainty over his ability to make a long-term impact.

It would therefore be a surprise if Arsenal were willing to make the Portuguese just their second January transfer over the €40m mark, as the Gunners are typically eager to ensure value from any investment.