IMAGO Arsenal have long-been in the market for a striker, having felt that they were missing a natural target man number nine up front...but the answer to Mikel Arteta's problems may have been in front of him all along.

The Gunners are among the top scorers in the Premier League but strikers Eddie Nketiah and Gabriel Jesus having less goals combined (9) than the club's leading marksman Bukayo Saka (12.)

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The likes of Ivan Toney and Dusan Vlahovic have been touted as options for Arteta in the summer in order to provide a consistent goalscorer and physical hold-up striker as an alternative, however each player is expected to cost at least EUR70 million.

But another alternative could come in the form of Mika Biereth, with the 21-year-old finding his feet out on loan and proving a force in Europe for Austrian side Sturm Graz, with fans on social media claiming the youngster was displaying signs of being 'the future of Arsenal'.

Biereth joined Arsenal in 2021 as an 18-year-old from Fulham but is on his third loan spell since then, having scored twice on loan at Dutch outfit RKC Waalwijk last season and spending the first half of this campaign at Motherwell.

Arsenal opted to recall Biereth and loan him out to Strum, partially to gain experience in the Europa Conference League, and he netted again in the tournament this week in the knockout tie against Slovan Bratislava, having also scored in the first leg.

Biereth 'dreams' of Arsenal future After grabbing six goals and five assists for Motherwell in 11 starts, Biereth was recalled and loaned to Sturm, where he scored his second goal for the club in their Europa Conference League knockout second leg against Slovan Bratislava, having also netted in the reverse fixture

Biereth has 18 months remaining on his contract with Arsenal and the club may look to cash in on him to avoid losing him on a free, with Graz stating they want to sign the Danish youth international permanently in the summer.

However, Biereth has admitted his dream is to succeed at Arsenal and feels the move to Graz was a step up from Motherwell, where he had six goals and five assists in 11 starts, claiming it was an 'easy decision from a selfish point of view'.

"I definitely think that the level is higher here when compared to Motherwell," Biereth told Danish outlet Tipsbladet.

"They are also two different types of playing style, because in Motherwell we played very defensively without many chances, and in Sturm Graz it goes a lot forward and a lot of chances are created. It can only be good for me."

"It's not just my dream, it's probably the dream of many to play for Arsenal," he added. "All I can do is get better and better when I'm away on rental agreements. Hopefully I can get the opportunity when I come back to the club.