Centre-forward was Arsenal’s main area of concern this time last year. Yet, 12 months on, they still find themselves in the market for players who could fill that position.Viktor Gyokeres turned out to be their man back then, signing from Lisbon’s Sporting CP for a €63.5million fixed fee (£54m/$72.6m at the current rates) with a further €10m possible in potential add-ons.The Sweden international grew into his debut season in north London, helping Arsenal win their first Premier League title for 22 years and reach the Champions League and Carabao Cup finals with 14 goals in the league and 21 across all competitions. Even so, the gaps in Gyokeres’ game seen in that 2025-26 campaign and the expected departure of Gabriel Jesus in this window make Arsenal’s desire for a new first-team striker understandable.The centre-forward market is not littered with elite options, but Arsenal are admirers of Atletico Madrid’s Julian Alvarez and Eli Junior Kroupi of Bournemouth. Here, The Athletic assesses how each could suit the reigning English champions ahead of the 2026-27 season, but first, the customary question…What does Arteta look for in his centre-forwards?In his six and a half years as head coach and then manager at Arsenal, Mikel Arteta has always put an emphasis on his centre-forward fulfilling multiple duties.He wants whoever leads the line to provide a platform for the team, with an ability to drop deep to combine with midfielders and wingers before making runs into the box. Arteta also places great importance on his strikers pressing the opposition centre-backs to help Arsenal dominate matches even if they are not in possession.Jesus, in his first few months at Arsenal after signing from Manchester City in July 2022, has probably been the best all-round fit for this job-spec. Before the Brazilian arrived, it seemed as though Arteta was searching for a player who was a mix of two of his then options at the position, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette. Similar could be said now, given the contrast in skill sets between Gyokeres and Kai Havertz, who do play well together as a pair.So, where do Alvarez and Kroupi sit on that striker spectrum?Gabriel Jesus was a great fit for Arteta when he joined (Michael Regan/Getty Images)Julian AlvarezWhen you try to look at Alvarez through Arteta’s eyes, you can see why he loves the 26-year-old Argentina international forward. Yes, the goals are there, and many of them are spectacular, but he offers the team he’s in much more.When asked who he felt could take Arsenal to another level last year by Liverpool and England defender turned leading TV pundit Jamie Carragher, Arsenal legend Thierry Henry said: “One of my favourite nines out there is Julian Alvarez. Putting pressure, playing alone, (dropping) low, whatever you want to do. Did you see the free kick he scored the other day? He can hold the ball alone.”Understanding Alvarez’s four years playing in Europe is important to demonstrate his rounded style.He’s spent two seasons each with Manchester City (36 goals in 103 games) and Atletico (49 in 106). His scoring record is better at Atletico, where he has not had someone of the calibre of City’s Erling Haaland as competition for his place in the team, but different sides of his game have been accentuated at different points.Alvarez was more of a goal threat and received better chances in his debut seasons at both City and Atletico. Over time in England and then Spain, he has become less of a penalty-area threat and taken fewer shots on average.The 26-year-old is still putting in work, just elsewhere on the pitch.His pass and carry progressions (the latter being instances where the ball is dribbled at least 10 yards closer to the opposition goal) have been on a steady climb over those four years, while he has also become a much bigger creative threat than when he first left Buenos Aires side River Plate for Manchester in July 2022.This was particularly useful for Atletico last season, as their attacking threat not only came from a strike partnership of Alvarez and one of Antoine Griezmann or Alexander Sorloth, but also from their wide players.With forward runs coming from elsewhere, Alvarez was free to drop off to get on the ball and link their midfield and forwards.The examples below show how frequently he found those pockets, and the different ways he set up attacking moves, with the final sequence leading to a goal even if Alvarez himself did not provide the assist.Whereas dropping deep can be an issue for goal tallies, and Alvarez’s did dip to just eight in 29 La Liga appearances last season, his finishing from range sometimes makes up for that.His curler from outside the box for Argentina against Switzerland to win their recent World Cup quarter-final was jaw-dropping, but he has scored similar goals for Atletico from just inside the box, the most memorable being against city rivals Real Madrid in 2025. In his four seasons in Europe, Alvarez has also scored direct free kicks in domestic league and Champions League matches.His carry progression deserves a mention when it comes to general play, as it undoubtedly comes into play at times when, as Henry mentioned, he is “playing alone”.While operating in a two-man strike partnership can ease some of the pressure when holding the ball up, there are moments against Europe’s best teams when the demands will change. There will be times when ‘leading the line’ will have to be taken in the most literal sense possible, and Alvarez has the capacity to do that.In a Champions League quarter-final second leg against Barcelona this past April, with Atletico behind on the night but ahead on aggregate, the ball breaks in midfield. Alvarez is surrounded by opposition midfielders, but manages to mount a one-man attack into the penalty area before laying the ball off for Ademola Lookman, who shoots just wide.A striker with that kind of speed and presence of mind can be invaluable in difficult moments.That burst did not end in an assist, but the goals Alvarez does create are interesting when viewed from an Arsenal perspective. Two of his four Champions League assists last season were from corners, for example, a fact that may make Arteta’s set-piece coach Nicolas Jover smile.Arteta must also like that Alvarez is accustomed to breaking down low defensive blocks. Atletico have faced a fair amount of these, but for a more direct comparison with Arsenal, here are a couple of Alvarez’s assists from his City days. Both were for Phil Foden and came from him finding space in the final third and showing good control off both feet to play quick passes to the onrushing midfielder.‘Who is the Arsenal midfielder to make such runs?’ may be a question to ask, but one could picture Morgan Rogers bursting forward in these instances if their interest in the Aston Villa man should turn into a transfer.Another aspect of Alvarez’s play that should not go unnoticed is his work out of possession. This includes being a general nuisance to opposition defenders when the ball is nowhere to be seen. In Arsenal’s 4-0 win over Atletico last October in the league phase of the Champions League, he was constantly pushing and pulling at William Saliba and Gabriel to annoy them.Once the clubs met again in that competition’s semi-finals, he had firmed up Saliba as his pressing target. Whenever the ball came to the France international centre-back, Alvarez sprinted towards him and engaged in a challenge to make him as uncomfortable as possible.Saliba is rarely flustered, so to see his game affected as much as it was made an impression. In fact, Alvarez applied more pressures per 90 minutes (82.8) than any other player in the Champions League last season.Most of the speculation around Alvarez this summer has been to do with Barcelona, who still expect to make a move for him after the World Cup, despite being on the verge of signing Germany winger Karim Adeyemi from Borussia Dortmund.During the tournament in North America, Alvarez told ESPN: “I believe a transfer is the best thing for everyone. I want to fulfil my dream.”With Atletico still insistent that they will not sell to direct rivals Barca, the closer Arsenal can stay to this situation, the better.Eli Junior KroupiArsenal supporters may have conflicting memories of Kroupi.The France Under-21 international scored home and away against their team last season, but his goal against Manchester City in May also confirmed Arteta’s men as Premier League champions.A much younger option than Alvarez, having celebrated his 20th birthday less than a month ago, Kroupi still has solid experience relative to his age. He was 19 during his debut season in the Premier League (13 goals in 33 appearances), but previously played 30 games in a Ligue 2-winning season with Lorient aged 18 (22 goals scored) and 30 more in Ligue 1 as a 17-year-old, when the French club were relegated (five goals).Both Kroupi and Alvarez flit between centre-forward and second-striker roles during matches. Last season, however, Kroupi was a bigger penalty-area and goal threat while being less rounded in the way he moved the ball forward. The Athletic looked at his scoring earlier this summer, with the forward’s expected goals over-performance and his ability to use both feet particularly encouraging.Rather than making long, progressive carries and passes like Alvarez does, Kroupi is a strong dribbler and passer over shorter distances, which is demonstrated in the graphic below.So, even if the Frenchman does not have the same assist or chance creation numbers as the Argentinian, he is still generally involved in attacks.A more low-key example may be Alex Scott’s winner at Emirates Stadium in April, as Kroupi found himself playing a short, simple pass out wide in the build-up.Below is another interchange with Scott, away to Newcastle the following week, as well as a piece of inventive hold-up play to free Adrien Truffert down the wing at Manchester City last November.The imagination shown in that moment at the Etihad Stadium is as much part of the appeal as what Kroupi has shown in front of goal for Lorient and now Bournemouth.Goals will always be celebrated, but there is something to be said for players who excite you in general play. Leandro Trossard’s Cruyff turns and dummies did that for Arsenal fans, as did Jesus’ mazy runs that transformed the side before his knee injury playing for Brazil at the 2022 World Cup. Trossard has now joined Besiktas, and Jesus could leave during this window, too.What is impressive when it comes to Kroupi is that while some moves seem off the cuff, they are repeated actions.Here is an example of a flick he does over an onrushing defender’s head upon receiving the ball, a skill he has employed in both Ligue 2 and the Premier League to kickstart attacks.Repetition is also evident in the goals he scores.A touch with one foot and a finish with the other has been transferred from France’s second division to the top flight in England. So have his goals from outside the box (four in two seasons at Lorient and two in his debut year with Bournemouth) and a knack for being in the right place at the right time.Arsenal suffered from both of the latter, with a long-range finish at the Vitality Stadium and another at the back post at the Emirates.Moments like those below, where Kroupi is well-positioned to volley (or header) a dropping ball in the box, crop up frequently in his goals gallery, too.Arteta has dabbled with two-man strike partnerships, but that has never been his go-to setup. It may be more likely that a new forward coming to Arsenal this summer would play as a lone striker rather than alongside either Gyokeres or Havertz. Even if that was the case, these two options would bring something different to the front line that could connect attacks more naturally.If priorities shift, Arteta could already have a short-term answer on the books in Mikel Merino. Maybe not as a first-choice striker, but by viewing the Spain international as a forward more than as a midfielder. Should Arsenal’s pursuit of Newcastle’s Bruno Guimaraes succeed, that could free Merino for a move up top, where he can focus his proven ability to score critical goals — 10 of his 11 in the Premier League (91 per cent) have been game-state changing, and he scored late winners for Spain in the last 16 and quarter-final at the World Cup.As the centre-forward position goes, it may help Arsenal that Gyokeres’ Sweden and Havertz’s Germany were both eliminated from the World Cup at the round of 32 stage. The pair have been on holiday together, enjoying games of padel, and can enter next season with a luxury they did not have, due to a Havertz knee injury on the opening weekend against Manchester United, at the start of the previous one: the ability to share the workload.