Photo credit: AFP.

Arsenal have endured a fairly up-and-down season during the 2015-16 campaign. Following triumphs in the FA Cup competition in consecutive years, the Gunners will finish off the current season without a significant trophy.  The disappointing year is attributed to inconsistency, both up front and in central defense, as well as multiple injuries to important players.

The north London outfit actually entered 2016 as Premier League leaders, thanks to a 2-0 victory over Bournemouth on December 28; however, Arsenal have only won five out of their 13 league matches since January 1.  The drop in form has seen the Gunners fall from the top spot to third place, 13 points behind Leicester City.

Arsenal began the dreadful stretch of 13 matches unable to score an adequate amount of goals. In fact, the Gunners were shut out in three consecutive league matches from mid-January into February. The return of striker Danny Welbeck certainly boosted the club up front, as evidenced by his extra time match-winning goal against Leicester in his first match back from a significant knee injury.  Nevertheless, Arsenal cannot rely on the former Manchester United man to be their prolific goalscorer up front. The 25-year-old unquestionably has his positives with this club, but he has never scored more than nine Premier League goals in a season during his career.

The club’s other center forward, Olivier Giroud, also has his attributes as well. However, the correlation between the Gunners falling in the league table and Giroud’s current form is undeniable. The France international has not scored a league goal since January 13, a streak of 11 matches. An even more interesting statistic is the fact Arsenal are 17-1-2 when Giroud is directly involved in a goal this season (per @PainInThArsenal).  The north London club’s record when the 29-year-old does not record or goal or an assist?  7-8-11.  These numbers prove just how paramount of a player Giroud is to the Gunners.

Despite Giroud’s importance to his club, Arsenal will surely be in the market for an additional forward during the upcoming summer transfer market.  One player that has been heavily involved in the rumor mill as of late is Alvaro Morata. The Juventus striker is highly-rated and talented; however, the 23-year-old is not exactly the type of forward that this current Arsenal team needs at the moment.

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Morata’s goalscoring prowess is not exactly “lethal,” as the former Real Madrid front man has only netted six league goals for the Old Lady this season. With the Gunners already having players such as Welbeck, Giroud and Theo Walcott (the Englishman is rumored to be leaving the Emirates this summer), Arsenal are in desperate need of a top center forward.  The type of striker that can score 30+ goals in a season, something that they have been missing since Robin van Persie departed north London in 2012.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, and even Everton’s Romelu Lukaku should be targeted by Gunners boss Arsene Wenger before Morata this summer. Arsenal’s central defense also needs to be seriously evaluated ahead of the 2016-17 season as well, but if the Gunners were to secure one of the three aforementioned strikers, it would be a massive step in the right direction in the team’s hunt for their first Premier League title since 2004.