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The January transfer window has been eerily quiet so far, but Arsenal are one Premier League club that are intent on strengthening their squad.

A 2-1 win over Tottenham Hotspur in the north London derby has galvanised the Gunners’ season after a couple of disappointing cup results, but Declan Rice’s comments that they “could have scored 10” was an admission that they were not clinical with their chances.

This has defined Arsenal’s start to 2025, the 3-1 win over Brentford on New Year’s Day aside. A return of one goal from 49 shots in defeats to Newcastle United and Manchester United emphasised their lack of potency in the penalty area.

Injuries have been a factor with Bukayo Saka sidelined until March or April after tearing his hamstring and Gabriel Jesus out even longer with an ACL tear. The prodigious Ethan Nwaneri has also been unavailable after tweaking his hamstring at Brighton earlier this month.

Earlier this week, Mikel Arteta admitted that it would be “naive” not to be open to bringing a player in this month, even if January is a notoriously difficult window to operate in.

“My answer remains the same,” he said when asked about Arsenal’s transfer plans.

“We are actively looking in the market to improve the squad and that has been since day one.”

Ideally, Arsenal could benefit from adding two attackers to their squad in this window: a wide forward to fill in for and latterly provide competition to Saka and a new No 9 to challenge Kai Havertz, who has faced criticism for his erratic finishing.

However, the second need is more pressing and has been for arguably the last three transfer windows. While both excellent players, neither Havertz nor Jesus have ever scored more than 14 Premier League goals in a single season and fans have long had doubts over the pair’s ability to spearhead a title-winning team.

Alexander Isak’s performance at the Emirates during Newcastle’s 2-0 win in the Carabao Cup semi-final 10 days ago perfectly demonstrated what Arsenal have been missing in attack.

The Swede was sensational with and without the ball, inside the penalty area and outside. He scored Newcastle’s first, fired off the shot that led to their second and made William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhaes look unusually flustered with his pace, strength and movement.

The irony for Arsenal is that Isak has long been a player of interest, even pre-dating his time at Newcastle when he was at Real Sociedad.

Newcastle will not countenance a sale for Isak at the moment given they have propelled themselves into top-four contention, meaning Arsenal may have to look for alternatives instead.

Benjamin Sesko, the towering RB Leipzig striker, has also been on Arsenal’s radar for some time but it may also be tricky buying him this month.

Five forwards Arsenal could sign

So who could Arsenal realistically recruit this month? The i Paper enlisted the expertise of Alex Stewart of Analytics FC – a data-driven football consultancy firm that works with numerous top clubs across Europe to identify transfer targets – to find strikers who match Isak’s profile.

Using Analytics FC’s scouting platform TransferLab, which harnesses a cutting edge algorithm to assess every player action, he found the following players with a profile similar to Newcastle’s main man.

Hugo Ekitike (Eintracht Frankfurt, 22)

A player who could have been a teammate of Isak’s at St James’ Park had he made different choices. Hugo Ekitike was a big target for Newcastle in 2022, but opted to join Paris Saint-Germain instead.

Although that move didn’t work out, the talented Frenchman has got his career back on track in the Bundesliga with Eintracht Frankfurt where he has scored 16 goals in 41 games, including eight in 16 Bundesliga games this season.

“Eintracht Frankfurt’s Huge Ekitike is less strong in the air but offers the same running threat and excellent finishing numbers, as well as good shot numbers. He’s physically imposing too,” says Stewart.

A potential stumbling block could be that Ekitike’s strike partner Omar Marmoush is set to leave Frankfurt to join Manchester City and they may not sanction the departure of two key forwards in one window.

Market value: £33m

Victor Osimhen (Napoli, on loan at Galatasaray, 26)

One of the most sought-after forwards in Europe needs little introduction and he is the type of high-profile signing that would excite Arsenal supporters.

Currently on loan at Galatasaray where he has netted 13 times in 17 games, Victor Osimhen could be available this month with Napoli eager to get his wages off the books more permanently.

“Victor Osimhen remains one of Europe’s elite strikers, despite ending up on loan in Turkey with Galatasary; should Napoli be open to a transfer he would offer exceptional quality in almost every department.”

Market value: £63m

Jonathan Burkardt (Mainz 05, 24)

Jonathan Burkardt has enjoyed an explosive first half of the season, scoring 12 goals in 16 Bundesliga matches for Mainz. Only Harry Kane (16) and Marmoush (15) can better that tally.

“For pure goal threat, Mainz’s Jonathan Burkhardt brings the third best goals per 90 in the Bundesliga [only Patrik Schick and Kane are better]. His link-up play is not quite as strong but he contributes very well in the air.”

Given Arsenal’s well-documented set-piece threat, that aerial prowess would come in handy. Three of Burkardt’s dozen goals have been headers.

Market value: £21m

Keke Topp (Werder Bremen, 20)

If Arsenal do bring in a forward, they will need them to contribute right away. However, every major club will be monitoring up-and-coming prospects more longer term, which makes Keke Topp a possible target.

“The Gunners probably don’t want a project player, as opposed to someone able to come in and score straight away, but if they are prepared to be a little patient Werder Bremen’s Keke Topp, only 20, is a superb prospect.

“He needs to improve his chance quality and shot location choice, but in every other regard this is a brilliantly well-rounded striker with significant upside.”

Market value: £3m

Julian Carranza (Feyenoord, 24)

Finally, a left-field pick. Julian Carranza has made a reasonable start to his career in Europe in the Eredivisie, but like Topp may not make the immediate impact that Arteta requires.

“Another fun one to consider, maybe on a loan, is Julian Carranza at Feyenoord.

“The 24-year-old only joined in the summer from MLS and has yet to play over 400 minutes, but already has three goals and shows elite contribution for xG, aerial wins, and touches in the box.”

Market value: £5m

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Erling Haaland has signed a 10-year contract extension at Manchester City – a move effectively committing his future to the club for the rest of his career.

As first reported by The Athletic, the striker’s new deal runs until 2034 and removes all previous release clauses attached to his former contract.

It is understood to be one of the most lucrative deals in Premier League history. While the salary has not been disclosed it is an improvement on the £400,000-a-week wages he was already earning.

Since signing from Borussia Dortmund in 2022, the Norwegian international has won two Premier League titles – including a historic Treble alongside the FA Cup and Champions League – as well as a Super Cup and Community Shield.

The 24-year-old has broken a string of top-flight records and has won back-to-back Golden Boots in his first two full seasons in English football.

In all competitions, he has scored 111 goals in 125 games.

“I am really happy to have signed my new contract and to be able to look forward to spending even more time at this great club,” Haaland said.

“Manchester City is a special club, full of fantastic people with amazing supporters and it’s the type of environment that helps bring the best out of everybody.

“I also want to thank Pep [Guardiola], his coaching staff, my teammates and everyone at the club as they have all helped me so much in the past couple of years. They have made this such a special place to be and now I am City no matter what.

“Now I want to keep developing, keep working to get better and look to do my best to try and help us achieve more success going forward.”

With his previous contract due to expire in 2027, his extension comes at a time when City’s future is shrouded in mystery as they battle the Premier League over 115 alleged breaches of financial regulations.

Director of football Txiki Begiristain added: “Everyone at the club is absolutely delighted that Erling has signed his new contract. The fact he is signed for so long demonstrates our commitment to him as a player, and his love of this club.

“He has made an incredible impact already in his time here and his amazing numbers and records speak for themselves.

“But in addition to his outstanding natural talent and ability, Erling’s dedication, professionalism, humility and desire to keep getting better sum up what we all strive to achieve at Manchester City.

“He is one of the finest strikers in world football, but Erling is still very young and will only continue to improve working under Pep and his coaching team. If he works hard, which I know he will, he will create an incredible legacy at this football club.

“Now he can focus on his game and continuing to play a huge part in helping us try to achieve even more success.”

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Atlanta United are edging closer to a deal for Newcastle United’s Miguel Almiron which will set up the first test of Paul Mitchell’s transfer mettle at St James’ Park.

The i Paper understands the details of a £10m move are being worked on with the player himself keen to rejoin the MLS side he left in 2019.

Personal terms are not understood to be a problem and an agreement is expected in the coming days. Almiron has been up for sale this month after drifting out of Newcastle’s first-team picture.

The £10m price tag is not quite at Newcastle’s valuation but still represents a substantial profit on Almiron’s “book value” (the term used to reflect his amortised valuation, which reduces the closer he gets to the end of his contract).

Crucially that will give Newcastle some room to manoeuvre given their continuing battle to stay within the Premier League’s Profit and Sustainability Rules.

Whether Newcastle choose to utilise that headroom is another matter, with noises coming from the club over recent days suggesting their PSR position is still too marginal to countenance a sizeable, first team signing to replace Almiron.

The Magpies – and Mitchell specifically – are facing a dilemma many of their Premier League rivals are wrestling with. Do they broker a big deal in January which can help in the second half of the season but might require sales to offset it in the summer, or keep their powder dry to strengthen in the close season.

With Newcastle still seemingly spooked by their experience in June 2024 when they had to sell Yankuba Minteh to Brighton and Elliot Anderson to Nottingham Forest to avoid a PSR breach, it might be that they opt not to strengthen.

That could change but sources have suggested that a move for a younger player with potential to improve might be more likely. It is a risk and could be an opportunity dropped given the position Eddie Howe’s team find themselves in heading into the final 17 games of the season.

They are back in the top four after an incredible run of six straight Premier League wins but only three points separate them from Aston Villa in 7th.

Injuries would disrupt them and Harvey Barnes’ absence for a month with a thigh strain means they are down to just Anthony Gordon and Jacob Murphy as specialist wide men in their squad. Given the importance Howe places on those positions, signing some support feels essential.

Mitchell has spent much of his first few months as director of football making changes to the scouting operations and widening Newcastle’s scouting focus across Europe.

While he would face criticism for a second successive transfer window without major additions, it’s understood his view is that taking a longer term perspective is more important than signing players for the sake of it.

He has told colleagues that getting the right player is more important than just adding bodies and has backed Howe’s judgement on Martin Dubravka, whose move to Al-Shabab has been shelved after the Slovakian’s fantastic form.

Newcastle are also set to keep hold of Lloyd Kelly, who has been the subject of a low-ball bid from Fenerbahce. Jose Mourinho identified Kelly as a possible target but an initial offer – said by sources in Turkey to be close to £6m – was turned down as derisory. Kelly fills in at several positions.

Insiders say there is “alignment” on the club’s direction, with few of the tensions that became the hallmark of their strained summer. It had long been telegraphed internally that January would be quiet.

Four options to replace Almiron

It can be done. That’s the message from football finance experts and scouting sources when Newcastle’s right-wing dilemma is put to them – while their PSR spot is difficult, it wouldn’t be impossible to do something.

So which options are achievable? The i Paper commissioned Alex Stewart of Analytics FC – a football consultancy who work with a clutch of top clubs across Europe to identify transfer targets – to find players who fit Mitchell’s profile.

That means under 23, with room to improve and who would cost between £10m and £30m. Governing Body Endorsements (GBEs) have also been taken into account – the pass that allows players from overseas to move to England if they meet the FA’s points-based criteria. Here’s what he came up with.

Rayan Cherki (Olympique Lyon, 21, GBE pass)

“He can play anywhere across the front line but has mostly appeared as a right winger in the last 12 months,” Stewart says.

“Extremely good ball carrier, with elite levels of creativity, he is right footed but Lyon are having financial issues which could lower his price. Three goals and three assists in limited minutes this season.

“Could be a world-beater and only 21.”

Gabriel Pec (LA Galaxy, 23, GBE Exceptions*)

“A cheaper option probably and comes with the usual MLS caveats but was excellent in Brazil in the top flight for Vasco and can play left or right wing as a left-footer,” Stewart says.

“A very strong ball carrier, he got 16 league goals and 12 assists this season, though he would arrive having played a full season and just started to wind down, which could be an issue getting up to speed.

“Probably the fifth best player in the MLS overall last year and the best in his position.”

*If a player scores between 10–14 points for a GBE test, the club can appeal to show that exceptional circumstances prevented the player from scoring 15 points.

Anthony Valencia (Royal Antwerp, 21, GBE eligible)

“He passed through the fabled Ecuadoran talent centre Independiente del Valle and impressed with them in the U20 Copa Libertadores,” says Stewart.

“Valencia has been quietly making an impression with a strong Antwerp side who won the league in 2022-23. He’s very much a prospect but with a possibly large upside.”

Tiago Palacios (Estudiantes, 23, GBE eligible)

“A diminutive, tricky winger used to the rough and tumble of Argentina’s top flight,” Stewart says.

“Elite winger at that level, especially great dribbler and carrier who gets into advanced positions and can create from nothing.

“Again, a gamble but with possible massive upside. Three goals and three assists this season and played in the Copa Libertadores. He represents Uruguay internationally.”

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Doing the 92 is Daniel Storey’s odyssey to every English football league club in a single season. The best way to follow his journey is by subscribing here.

Fulham is a delightful club for the neutral to visit two or three times per season. The walk to the ground is unsurpassed in English football: from Putney Bridge Underground station past Hurlingham Books, surely the most picturesque of its kind in London. You walk down the Thames Path past Fulham Palace and through Bishops Park, before dipping down onto Stevenage Road.

That allows you to be welcomed to Craven Cottage by the Johnny Haynes statue; he is an excellent tour guide for someone cast out of bronze.

Take several steps back and you see English stadium heritage in one vista: the cottage, the red brick broken up with the row of small square windows, the dancing glow of the floodlights, the impossibly narrow turnstiles leading to the wooden seats.

That is the unique selling point of Fulham. This is where middle-class sensibilities meet with social history to form a living football museum. You don’t just overlook or forgive the shabbier, less shiny elements; you cherish them.

The new Riverside Stand, looking double its size for everything that it towers over, allows for a west London football safari in padded seats. You can sit and gawp and how things used to be.

Craven Cottage has long created a difficult balance for those tasked with growing Fulham in a sport that fundamentally scoffs at its antiquities.

Fulham have designs on breaking into the Premier League’s top half but, at the last count, their revenue was the 11th highest in the division despite being based in one of the most affluent parts of the country. They were roughly £50m behind West Ham and £15m behind Brighton.

The problem: this stuff tends to take time. Having seemingly overcome their yo-yo years to consolidate back in the Premier League, Fulham still felt like a club on the outside of the elite, their breath fogging up the window as they stared through the glass at someone else’s party. They wanted that to change.

The Riverside Stand was originally slated to open in September 2021 but the project was hampered by delays in demolishing the old stand, Covid-19 lockdowns and difficulties with the construction company.

It is now open to supporters, but the hospitality sections will be completed by summer 2025. Those sections will include a bar with rooftop pool and Michelin-starred restaurant.

“When I first spoke to the Fulham Disabled Supporters Association they gave me some advice and that was that Fulham is the sort of club that can have a business class or first class and have fans that turn left on a plane,” was the quote from Alistair Mackintosh that you hear a lot from Fulham season-ticket holders now.

It does all sound emphatically gauche, a gold-dipped football club. But Fulham supporters can accept the need to cash in on potential high-end customers and, if one of them falls in love and becomes a serious investor or a sponsor, it will have been worth it.

The issue here, the one that has come to define Fulham over the last half decade, is what happens to those who have made that walk along Stevenage Road for decades and who do so every other week rather than twice a year.

Fulham is a football club wrestling with its own identity, of where it has come from, where it wants to go and how that past and future interconnect in the present.

The reconstruction of the Riverside Stand has irrefutably priced some season-ticket holders out of their seats, either to other parts of the ground or away from matches entirely – I’ve spoken to some of them.

The headline price was £3,000, the highest non-corporate season ticket price in English football, but there were significant rises across the board. The high-end corporate section appeared to be bleeding into the areas around it.

“Whilst we understand that Fulham needs to increase its revenues we feel this shouldn’t be at the expense of long-standing loyal supporters,” says Jacqui McCarron, a season-ticket holder and member of the excellent Fulham Lillies fan group.

“Riverside supporters were told that they would be given first refusal on returning to their original seats in the Riverside. However, what they weren’t told was that these tickets would go up by such a huge amount. Before the stand was demolished you could get an adult season ticket for £850. Afterwards, it was a minimum of £1,200 rising up to £3,000.”

Were this a one-off complaint, we could forgive a misjudged decision and understand Fulham’s own dilemma. But we have been here before with this club and with these supporters who love it but are finding it increasingly difficult to like what they hear.

“Fulham’s ticket pricing strategy is dim, short-sighted and shameful” read The i Paper headline in March 2019 after a 2-0 home defeat to Manchester City. Before and during that game, Fulham-supporting volunteers handed out flyers protesting their club’s inflated ticket prices. “Stop the greed” was their simple message.

In 2022, for Fulham’s first match back in the Premier League after promotion, there were more protests and more unhappiness after the cheapest adult ticket outside the family area was priced at £65 and some standard tickets were £100.

In October 2023, Fulham supporters held up yellow cards during a match against Manchester United after their club had priced some standard adult tickets in the Riverside Stand at £160, a 60 per cent rise on the previous season.

“It’s a policy which, piece by piece, is alienating a large part of our core fan base to the extent that increasing numbers just can’t afford to come to a game or bring their friends and family to help create that next generation,” said Fulham’s official Supporters’ Trust at the time.

It goes on. Last month, Fulham removed their loyalty points scheme for one game, the away fixture at Chelsea that represents the club’s biggest away game of the season.

Rather than allowing those who had accrued points through attending other fixtures to have priority, at two days’ notice Fulham effectively made it a free-for-all for all season-ticket holders. The lack of notice, according to the Supporters’ Trust, caught people off guard and led to many missing out.

The pricing structure remains eye-watering. Tickets are currently on sale for the home game against Manchester United on 26 January. In the Riverside, the cheapest adult ticket is £150 and a child will pay at least £70. The cheapest adult ticket outside the family section is £67 and that is only available in two blocks of the Hammersmith Stand.

If the pricing strategies themselves have angered supporters, it has been exacerbated by what they call a misguided communication strategy.

Discussing the introduction of a £12,000 corporate season ticket in the Riverside Stand, Mackintosh made his feelings perfectly clear: “The attention is on the top-end pricing as it is more interesting to report than the bottom end, but our game against Villa is sold out.”

His point is a reasonable one: the business of football is business. If you can sell your tickets for a match at £150, then why would you sell them for anything less? This is simple supply and demand, folks.

Which is fine, except that Fulham have pretended to be different when it suits. They have always traded on heritage, history and tradition: the club website uses the tagline “London’s original football club”.

In May 2020, owner Shahid Khan praised supporters for the community spirit demonstrated during the pandemic and promised that, in the years to come, there would be “no loss in the sense of family, tradition and belief that are signatures of Fulham Football Club”.

This ticket price strategy has to erode those purportedly important elements. There is no great mystery here.

If you charge a minimum £440 for a family of four to watch a Premier League match in one of the stands of your stadium, and if prices are increased so significantly for the highest-profile opponents, you are not aiming your product at local Fulham supporters.

You are aiming to fill those seats with tourists, either from elsewhere in the country or from abroad.

Football clubs – and this is clearly not just Fulham – love these tourist supporters because they are minute gold mines.

The average season-ticket holder will go straight to their seat, may take their own snacks and are likely to make one or two visits per season to the club shop. Swap them out for a different infrequent supporter every week and the revenue potential per seat goes through the roof.

But there’s two obvious problems with this. Firstly, according to Fulham’s last published accounts, gate receipts represented only eight per cent of the highest posted annual revenue in Fulham’s history. It was dwarfed by broadcasting, commercial and prize revenue.

That suggests, fairly or otherwise, that the raise in prices is not just a maximisation of the supply and demand principle but a means of pricing out local supporters to ensure that they are less likely to attend and that more seats will go to those first-time visitors.

All the long-term supporters are asking for is for the business model not to target those who can least afford to pay more, given the revenue (and spending) in other areas. They understand that gratitude is owed to Khan for financing the club, but his promises about understanding the importance of the tradition and heritage overlook the role of supporters within that history.

“Fulham only exists because of the loyal supporters who in the 1980s fought off developers who wanted to merge Fulham with QPR and sell off the ground,” says McCarron.

Fulham 4-1 Watford (Thursday 9 November)

• Game no.: 54/92
• Miles: 246
• Cumulative miles: 9,095
• Total goals seen: 152
• The one thing I’ll remember in May: Does it have to be football? The piles and piles of books at the Hurlingham shop on the walk to Craven Cottage.

“Again in the early 2000s, Fulham supporters blocked plans by the then owner Mohamed Al Fayed when he sold Craven Cottage.

“As with all supporters a football club is much more than the 90 minutes of football. It is generations of families coming together, communities such as the Fulham Lillies providing help and support.

“It is sad to think that future generations will be priced out due to short-sighted decisions to make money now and not think about a longer term strategy.”

It also smacks a little of inherent arrogance. Fulham have been relegated three times in the last 11 seasons. This club had an average attendance as low as 4,700 in 1993-94 and 9,000 in 1997-98.

It is hardly unthinkable that if you alienate supporters by pricing them out, they will find other ways to spend their money and will not return if performances go sour and – supply and demand returns! – ticket prices go down.

To a neutral, this is all pretty dispiriting because it seems so damn unnecessary. Fulham is a magnificent football club and Craven Cottage is a wonderful place to watch them. They had a reputation as a family club that they worked to maintain during their accelerated rise through the divisions.

It won’t take too much to improve relationships and simmer down anger. Broken trust means that some won’t return, and that should be a cause of real shame.

Somewhere along the line, in their pursuit of becoming part of English football’s elite, Fulham need to find a way of doing it that doesn’t lose the faith of those who were here long before that was even a pipe dream.

Daniel Storey has set himself the goal of visiting all 92 grounds across the Premier League and EFL this season. You can follow his progress via our interactive map and find every article (so far) here

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Arsenal 2-1 Tottenham (Solanke OG 40′, Trossard 44′ | Son 25′)

EMIRATES STADIUM — Such is the state of mourning around Arsenal at the dire situation with their forwards the players all wore special shirts for Gabriel Jesus as they warmed up for the north London derby.

In case it wasn’t clear from this somewhat over-the-top gesture: Jesus hasn’t died, but he has torn the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee, and will be out for the season.

And the timing could barely be worse. Not only had Jesus started scoring, their front-line was already wearing worryingly thin. Bukayo Saka is ruled out until at least April, soon followed by Ethan Nwaneri, the 17-year-old Mikel Arteta was pinning his hopes on covering.

Until he scored against Tottenham Hotspur on Wednesday night, Leandro Trossard had not scored since November. Kai Havertz has never felt like a natural fit up front and his scoring is inconsistent to the point of frustration. Gabriel Martinelli has scored six in 28 this season.

Into the breach stepped Raheem Sterling, only a third league start of the season for the player loaned from Chelsea, where he was cast out, only a few years before winning title with Manchester City and a key forward for England, now a 30-year-old desperately in need to reviving a flagging career.

This is exactly why Arsenal signed him on transfer deadline day, to compete for a place and, at least, provide cover. Is he the answer in their time of need?

Sadly, watching his every interaction and involvement against Tottenham, it added up to a desperate game, with all the signs of a player lacking confidence and that wonderful bit of magic which made him such an unpredictable and deadly player, one who used to waltz through entire defences and pop up as if from nowhere with match-winning goals in major tournaments for England.

And it was not for lack of trying, from Sterling and his teammates, who tried to will him into the game. The frequent through balls by Martin Odegaard, one in the middle that Sterling was able to clip around Antonin Kinsky and looked as though he would score, before Archie Gray blocked; two more that resulted in crosses that went nowhere. Havertz kept trying to get him in the game.

But for a player whose burst of pace was such a weapon, it appears to have deserted him. Djed Spence, the Spurs left-back, dealt with Sterling every time. He tried stepovers, which Spence watched, read like a book, then tracked his run, mainly shepherding the ball out for goal kicks. He tried completely slowing play to a standstill, then sprinting towards the byline – again, Spence was equal to it, winning a goal kick.

At one point, when Odegaard played a high ball to him out on the touchline, he took a heavy touch, got the ball under control with his second, tried to dribble, lost it. A spectator yelled, “Do something for f***’s sake!”

Arteta, too, appeared frustrated in the dugout. So often Sterling seemed to slow attacks down, just when Arsenal needed to speed things up.

There were flashes of old Sterling. A nice backheel to find a free Jurrien Timber inside the box on the right. The few times he held up play reasonably well, and won dangerous free kicks.

Not a bad outlet for a team so dangerous from set-pieces.

Even in the second half, there appeared to be a half-time directive from Arteta for David Raya, his goalkeeper, to go long for Sterling to gamble off Havertz knock-ons. They did it twice in a couple of minutes. The first Sterling was unable to control, the second he won a corner. Again, useful for a team that had already scored from one.

It was a sign that Arteta wanted Arsenal to use him, to get him involved, to make it work, even though it wasn’t.

Sterling was never the most defensive of players, but he even showed signs of adapting to the times, when unless you are Lionel Messi, you have to chip in.

A few times he could be found on the edge of his own penalty area. Once or twice he dribbled the ball out in his own half to relieve pressure. He pressed Gray and Kinsky, forcing them into a clearance. It was all helpful.

But it probably wasn’t enough, not for a team chasing the title.

He had a great chance to score in the 57th minute, the ball at his feet in a good position to shoot, not too far out, central to goal. But he wasn’t quick enough to get it away, something that would’ve been no problem for the old Sterling.

Probably the most telling moment came in Arsenal’s winning goal.

His teammates had started to burst up the pitch while Sterling was still walking, inside his own half. Partey snapped the ball away from Yves Bissouma on the half-way line, releasing Odegaard, who released Trossard, who cut inside and fired the ball past Kinsky.

By the time the ball went in, Sterling had only just made it into a jog, not far from the halfway line.

He lasted 61 minutes. In his other two Premier League starts, he was subbed in the 60th minute against Southampton and the 37th against Bournemouth. It is dire stuff for halfway through the season.

In their last two games, the Carabao Cup and FA Cup defeats to Newcastle United and Manchester United, Arsenal had 49 shots and only 10 on target. Sterling isn’t going to solve that problem and this performance should sharpen focus.

They remain strong title contenders and moving within four points of Liverpool, who have a game in hand, ramps up pressure on Arne Slot’s side showing the first fleeting signs of cracking, with only one win in four.

Arsenal have funds to spend, albeit not limitless, and are actively in the market for players who can improve them team. And there are forwards out there.

Alexander Isak would be ideal, but Newcastle wouldn’t countenance a mid-season sale and Arsenal are unlikely to be able to afford the sort of meteoric sums it would take to change that.

Benjamin Sesko is a long-term target, although he signed a new contract at RB Leipzig in the summer.

Dusan Vlahovic is an option at Juventus. Liam Delap has impressed at Ipswich. Manchester United target Viktor Gyokeres has a reported £83m release clause.

Signing a player in January is notoriously difficult but, in the circumstances and with everything at stake, Arsenal may regret it if they don’t try.

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Arsenal 2-1 Tottenham (Solanke OG 40′, Trossard 44′ | Son 25′)

EMIRATES STADIUM — Arsenal could have picked no better way to end their mini-crisis.

A win over Tottenham Hotspur ensured bragging rights remain their side of the north London divide while also keeping pressure on Liverpool in the battle for the Premier League title. A pair of bruising cup results prompted questions over whether Mikel Arteta‘s project has stalled, but this was a much-improved Arsenal performance.

As for Spurs, this signalled an 11th defeat in the league, one fewer than they managed in the entirety of Ange Postecoglou’s maiden year. There were morsels of comfort, not least the performance of the miraculous Archie Gray, but success is required in the cups to prevent this season from being written off. This defeat could have been a lot worse.

“Our league form is unacceptable, our results are unacceptable and it needs to change,” a downbeat Postecoglou said afterwards.

The visitors withstood intense early pressure to strike first with Son Heung-min’s deflected volley sneaking in past David Raya. It was the South Korean’s eighth Premier League goal in this fixture, a tally only his former strike partner Harry Kane (14) can top.

Arsenal levelled in familiar fashion with Gabriel Magalhaes meeting a corner at the back post and turning a header in off the unfortunate Dominic Solanke. Within four minutes, Leandro Trossard had completed the turnaround.

North London derbies under the floodlights are rare and the crowd made the most of a rare treat by filling the Emirates with a noise that made the senses tingle.

A youthful Tottenham team – the average age of their keeper and two centre-backs was just over 20 – were unnerved by it as Arsenal stamped their authority like an older sibling forcing their younger one to play the game they wanted.

For a spell, the halfway line was a forcefield preventing any player into Arsenal’s half. Speaking to TNT Sports after the game, Declan Rice spoke of his team’s “pure domination” in the first-half and they began like a side with a point to prove following recent slips against Brighton, Newcastle and Manchester United.

Predictably they looked to test Premier League debutant Antonin Kinsky’s handling and mettle early on, racking up four corners in the opening 10 minutes. The young Czech had a tough night, twice almost losing the ball to Kai Havertz in his own defensive third in the first 20 minutes.

Spurs were caged in, but when they did manage to escape they attacked at speed and with intent.

Djed Spence’s spiralled Trivela cross to the back post was Gabriel’s big toe away from meeting an onrushing Solanke, before Raya denied Dejan Kulusevski from the resulting corner after the Swede had superbly slunk away from Rice.

It was a temporary reprieve for the Gunners who conceded from another set-piece a few minutes later.

A looping clearance dropped out of the sky towards Son who watched it carefully onto his instep and controlled a volley low into the side netting with the aid of a deflection off Thomas Partey. Arsenal’s vulnerability from corners was matched by Spurs.

Fifteen minutes after Son’s opener Arsenal equalised via the same method, benefiting from two strokes of luck along the way.

Trossard’s attempted cross ricocheted back off him via Pedro Porro’s shins but a corner was given and Gabriel’s header back across goal from the kick went in off Solanke’s midriff. There was nothing fortunate about Rice’s delivery, though, which was typically pinpoint.

It was a tough moment for Kinsky who found himself caught underneath the searching, swirling high ball but worse was to come. A Trossard arrow was struck with accuracy and venom, but flew at a good height for the keeper who allowed it to slip through like a bar of soap.

A one-goal deficit was hardly as ruinous as Postecoglou’s half-time substitutions suggested. Off came holding midfielder Yves Bissouma and Pape Matar Sarr with James Maddison and Brennan Johnson flung on. Control sacrificed for chaos. Ange gonna Ange until the end.

It felt at the time as though the changes would prove either to be a masterstroke or a catastrophe and as Arsenal ripped through a patched-up midfield it felt much more like the latter.

Player of the match

Declan Rice: Set up Arsenal’s equaliser and dominated the midfield with driving runs at the heart of the Spurs defence.

The home side sensed an opportunity but Havertz couldn’t take either of his, planting one header wide and another into Kinsky’s gloves as Arsenal generated chances.

With Arsenal hunting a clincher and Spurs searching for an equaliser, the final 20 minutes became frenzied and fraught. A Rice thumper bounced off Kinsky with Martin Odegaard’s follow-up drawing a more conventional stop. The Norwegian missed a sitter to wrap it up and Porro lashed the post from an acute angle.

Despite their missed chances, Arsenal held firm to earn a win that injected optimism into their season after a tough week. They were convincing winners and while there will be some frustration that the margin of victory was not greater, this was a display that will make Liverpool wary.

For Spurs, though the long road to recovery still awaits.

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Newcastle 3-0 Wolves (Isak 34’, 57’, Gordon 74′)

ST JAMES’ PARK — Alexander Isak is inevitable but in-form Newcastle United are doing more than enough to suggest the identity Premier League winners might not be.

This was nine straight wins for the Magpies and eight games with a goal for Isak, currently the most lethal striker on the planet. And what made it so remarkable was that it all felt so routine for Eddie Howe‘s team, who overcame the sort of obdurate opponents who were their Achilles heel earlier in the season.

Can they really impact the title race? Their stuttering early season form has left them with a chasm to bridge to clear favourites Liverpool but they have momentum, belief and a striker capable of turning games in an instant.

Isak really is as good as the hype surrounding him. What makes him so dangerous is that he can both stretch defences and puncture them – his pair of goals here showcasing the full extent of his ability. For the first, his elastic limbs took him past a Wolverhampton Wanderers side camped on the edge of their penalty area before a whipped, deflected shot past Jose Sa.

For the second, he ghosted into the right place at the right time to receive a pass from the outstanding Bruno Guimaraes before smashing past the Wolves goalkeeper.

What could the visitors do to stop him? Not much. Newcastle are playing with such belief that if you expend too much energy trying to stop Isak, one of their other in-form forwards will get you. Anthony Gordon – who has four in four games himself – proved that with a third that reflected Newcastle’s dominance.

The more realistic goal for Howe’s side this season is to return to the Champions League and convert this rich vein of form into a trophy in the Carabao Cup. But the fact that they’re finding different ways to win must be hugely satisfying to a manager who worked long and hard to address their issues against teams playing a low block.

Wolves ticked that box, arriving with a plan that mirrored the spiky defiance of their manager Vitor Pereira.

He is not short on confidence or ideas and the one that they unfurled at St James’ Park made sense: flood the midfield, chuck a blanket over Newcastle’s front three and choke the life out of a counter-attack that had seen off nine previous opponents.

For half an hour it worked as the hosts tried to work out the best way to break through Wolves’ disciplined midfield quintet. It wasn’t that Howe’s team lacked ideas – Sandro Tonali‘s subtle shift up the pitch to try and press the visitors was proof of his in-game IQ – but opportunities were limited and there was threat to be resisted on the counter. Newcastle were a shade fortunate during the opening exchanges that it was the struggling Hwang Hee-chan and not Matheus Cunha who started.

But then came Isak, cutting in on the edge of the penalty area to fire past Sa with the help of a sizeable deflection off Rayan Ait-Nouri. It was not the most spectacular of his nine goals in as many games but it came at the perfect point in the contest, just as Wolves were threatening to dig in.

They should have levelled within minutes from a swift counter-attack which found Jorgen Strand Larsen in the penalty area but his volleyed effort struck the foot of Martin Dubravka’s post. On reflection, it was the moment the game edged away from Wolves.

At half-time Pereira played his ace, introducing Brazilian forward Cunha into his attack. But his wit and invention came up against a black and white brick wall in the form of Sven Botman and Tino Livramento, who look like they’ve played together in this Newcastle defence for years. Understandably much has been made of Isak’s form but they have conceded just three goals since embarking on their remarkable winning run. Those are firm foundations for this run at the top four.

Late on there was a run out for Miguel Almiron, the subject of an £11million bid from his former club Atlanta United. It’s a move likely to happen in the coming days, unlocking the ability for Howe to add more to a squad that has the winning feeling.

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