Edu told to get plan of action ready as club chief reveals Arsenal chances of deadly striker deal

Arsenal will have to look elsewhere for a new striker signing because Patrik Schick will not be leaving Bayer Leverkusen, a club chief has said.

The Gunners have made a new goalscorer a top priority for the upcoming transfer window. While Gabriel Martinelli is a fantastic talent for the present and future, Eddie Nketiah is likely to leave.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang left in January for Barcelona following a falling-out with boss Mikel Arteta.

And despite reports that Alexandre Lacazette could sign a new short-term deal with his contract expiring in the summer, Arsenal could do with a proper successor for the 30-year-old.

As a result, Arsenal have made Leverkusen striker Schick a firm summer target.

But, responding to the Gunners’ links with a swoop for the Czech Republic international, Leverkusen CEO Fernando Carro insisted that the 26-year-old will not leave this summer.

“No, we will not sell Patrik Schick. There is no need to talk about that at all,” the cub chief told Sky Germany.

“We are very happy that he is with us, and we firmly count on him for the next few years.”

Arsenal to miss out on Alexander Isak as Barcelona come calling

Alexander Isak is likely to join Barcelona this summer and leave Arsenal still looking for a new striker

Schick, who won Euro 2020’s Goal of the Tournament for his long-range strike against Scotland, has carried his international form into the current campaign.

He has netted 20 goals in 20 Bundesliga games and his contract runs until the summer of 2025.

Schick is currently out with a calf injury but returned to team training for the first time on Tuesday.

The 33-cap international made the move to Germany from Roma in September 2020.

Schick one of many Arsenal targets

Schick is the latest striker to have links with a move to Arsenal in recent months.

The forward line is the only part of the team which Arteta and transfer chief Edu did not strengthen last summer.

In January, all the talk was about Dusan Vlahovic. However, the former Fiorentina man moved to Juventus instead.

Since then, the likes of Everton’s Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Raphinha of Leeds and Benfica’s Darwin Nunez have all reportedly become Gunners targets.

In any case, Arteta has built an impressive young team around the striker issue.

Bukayo Saka, Martinelli, Martin Odegaard and Emile Smith Rowe have formed a solid quartet in attack.