Arsenal have had several world-class strikers over the years, although not all of their number nines have managed to do the business in North London.
Viktor Gyokeres is the latest forward on his way to sign for the Gunners and he’ll be hoping to have a bigger impact than the players on this list.
Here are six Arsenal forwards who were meant to be the business but weren’t.
Kai Havertz
The jury is still out on Havertz and whether or not he’s been a successful signing for Arsenal.
Signed in 2023 from Chelsea for £65million, the German forward links play well, but hasn’t been the natural goalscorer that Mikel Arteta’s side has been crying out for.
In 87 appearances across all competitions, the 26-year-old has scored 29 goals. With Gyokeres now on his way, it’ll be interesting to see what role Havertz has in the squad next season.
How is the sanogo
On the back of a prolific run of games with Auxerre in the French second division, Arsenal signed Sanogo in 2013 with high hopes.
At the time of the move, Sanogo was only 20 years old and it was hoped that he’d be able to develop into a regular first-team player.
However, a back injury derailed his debut season with the club and French forward never quite recovered from that point.
In 20 appearances for the club, he only managed to score one goal before leaving Arsenal in 2017 on a free transfer.
Francis Jeffers
After capturing fans imaginations at Everton, Arsenal splashed £8million on Jeffers to bring him to the club in 2001.
However, he found regular minutes hard to come by in North London as he was firmly behind Thierry Henry, Dennis Bergkamp and Nwankwo Kanu in the pecking order.
The Gunners did win the Premier League during Jeffers’ first season with the club, but he only made six league appearances that year.
While he was on the books, Arsenal also won consecutive FA Cups, but Jeffers wasn’t involved in either of the final match-day squads.
After spending the 2003-04 season on loan with Everton, Arsenal sold him the following season for a fee of £2.6million to Charlton.
Davor Suker
Suker arrived from Real Madrid in 1999 with a reputation of a prolific goalscorer. However, Arsenal fans never really saw the best of him.
The Croatian international struggled to make a significant impression in North London and was shipped to West Ham after just one season at the club.
His record of eight league goals in 22 appearances was by no means disastrous, but by the time he joined Arsenal, it was clear that he was on the decline.
John Hartson
In January 1995, Hartson joined Arsenal for a fee of £2.5million, which was a British record fee for a teenage player at the time.
Given his age and potential, it was hoped that the Welsh international would be the future of Arsenal’s forward line, but things didn’t quite pan out like that.
While the Welshman did score some memorable goals during his time in North London, he only managed 14 league goals during his three years with the club.
In 1996, he was firmly behind Bergkamp and Ian Wright in the pecking order and was allowed to leave the club in February 1997 to join West Ham, where he became much more prolific.
Lucas Perez
After scoring 17 league goals during his last season with Deportivo La Coruna in 2015-16, Arsenal fans were excited to see Perez in action.
They splashed £17.1million to bring him to the Premier League, but it quickly became apparent that he wasn’t up to scratch.
He scored a handful of goals in cup competitions, but only scored once in the league before he was sent back to Deportivo La Coruna on loan.
Ultimately, Arsenal had to cut their losses with the Spanish forward as they sold him for a considerable loss to West Ham in 2018.
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