Six players Arsenal should consider signing in the January transfer window

Toney is set for a very busy month. Not only is the Brentford striker's betting suspension up on January 17, he is also likely to become one of the main protagonists of the transfer rumour mill.

Arsenal and Chelsea's interest in the one-cap England international has been known for some time, with Bees boss Thomas Frank openly admitting that his star man could depart the club this winter. It's not hard to see why top sides are interested in Toney.

Last season, he was deadly in front of goal, with only Erling Haaland and Harry Kane netting more times in the Premier League. His link-up play and creativity is vastly underrated too, leading to Brentford slapping an unholy price tag on his head.

Reports have varied, with the least conservative estimates claiming that the west Londoners want as much as £100 million ($128m) for the centre-forward. That might be enough to put Arsenal off, but by spending a similar amount on Declan Rice in the summer they showed that they are not afraid to invest significantly on a single player if they're deemed to be the very best option out there.

Some creative accounting would be required - perhaps an initial loan with an option to buy, as Arsenal agreed with Brentford for the signing of David Raya - but it's hard to argue that Toney would not be a significant upgrade on what Arteta currently has up front. It might even be the addition that gets his side over the line in the title race.

Toney would very much be the 'win-now' option up top. If Arsenal want to exercise a little more patience, Leonardo is an obvious choice. Cristiano Ronaldo is the Santos sensation's footballing idol, something he revealed in an interview with GOAL back in 2022.

2023 was a difficult year for the striker, with the club who have recently produced the likes of Neymar, Rodrygo and Gabigol suffering the first relegation in their history. That would have hurt the Brazilian greatly, but Santos' loss could become Arsenal's gain.

His agent has already confirmed he will be leaving in January, saying: "Already in the previous transfer market he had the possibility of being sold, but Santos’ sporting situation was very particular. He agreed to stay because he wanted to help out until the end of the championship. He didn’t want to leave because it wasn’t the right thing to do. But the time has come to move. He wants to have a European experience and his time will come this winter."

And although there is interest from the likes of Real Madrid as well, Arsenal's strong Brazilian core makes north London an alluring option for the exciting 20 year old. Signing him and then loaning him out to get first-team experience elsewhere, with a view to him replacing Nketiah next season, might be the way forward.

After a brief flirtation with Ben White at the beginning of the campaign, Arteta has scarcely strayed away from his tried-and-tested centre-back pairing of William Saliba and Gabriel this season. The duo complement each other perfectly, but as Saliba's untimely absence proved towards the back end of 2022-23, an injury could be massively unsettling as the defenders Arsenal have in reserve aren't quite at the same level.

Signing Inacio might be a solution to this potential banana skin. The Portuguese has been a mainstay of the Sporting CP side for some times and still has plenty of scope to improve considering he's only 22.

Inacio is scarcely flustered on the ball and loves to stride out from the back, while his lack of height is more than made up for by his exemplary reading of the game. The only issue is how much he'd cost. Reports suggest Sporting are unwilling to let him leave for anything less than his €60m (£52m/$67m) release clause, which might be too much for Arsenal to sanction in January.

Inacio is not the only Sporting defender the Gunners have been linked with. His centre-back partner Diomande is also attracting interest from a host of top sides, including Arsenal. Receiving a portion of his footballing education at renowned talent factory Midtjylland, the Ivorian is similar to Inacio in some ways.

Both are typically-modern defenders with impressive passing ranges and the ability to play around oncoming attackers, but Diomande is significantly taller that his club counterpart.

That, combined with the fact that he is several years younger, means he is valued slightly higher, with £69m ($88m) said to be Sporting's asking price. That's not cheap, but Arsenal could feasibly be investing in a starting centre-back for the next decade if he can continue improving at the current rate. Unfortunately, if they do pull the trigger, Diomande is likely to be unavailable in January as he's just broken into the Ivory Coast squad ahead of AFCON.

Perhaps one of the only bright spots of Ajax's miserable 2023-24 season has been the emergence of Hato as a first-team regular. Capable of playing in the centre or on the left of the defence, the 17-year-old is already looking like being the next European star off the production line in Amsterdam - and Arsenal are one of the many clubs linked.

Despite his tender age, Hato has captained Ajax twice this season, once in the Europa League and once in the Dutch Cup, as well as scoring in his side's 5-0 route of struggling Vitesse.

With Timber not expected back for some months yet, his versatility across the backline would be welcomed by Arteta. Again though, he's unlikely to come cheap - even if his contract at the Johan Cruyff Arena is set to expire in 2025.

Neto's sensational form has gone slightly under the radar this season. He may not have played since October, but he was still sitting pretty at the top of the assists charts on Christmas Day - with the Portuguese failing to set up a goal in just three of his 10 Premier League appearances thus far.

The 23 year old has been strongly linked with Liverpool in the past, but Arsenal have emerged as his most-likely destination in more recent months. Capable of playing across the front line and having already proven himself in the top flight, he draws obvious comparisons with Trossard, who Arsenal signed 12 months ago to shake up their frontline.

With Arteta clearly not fancying Emile Smith Rowe and Reiss Nelson, it's not out the realms of possibilities that Neto could be brought in this winter, with one of the Hale End graduates moving in the other direction. He'll need to prove his fitness first, of course.