Mikel Arteta reveals which unlikely star has jokingly volunteered to become Arsenal's makeshift striker as the Spaniard weighs up signing a free agent to ease their injury crisis

A desperate Mikel Arteta is open to raiding the free agent market for a striker in a bid to sustain Arsenal’s title hopes after Kai Havertz’s season-ending injury.

The Gunners’ forward situation has become so dire that even centre back William Saliba has jokingly offered to play up front.

Havertz suffered a hamstring injury on Arsenal’s recent trip to Dubai, ruling him out for the rest of the season.

That leaves Arteta perilously short in attack with just three recognised attackers in Leandro Trossard, Raheem Sterling and Ethan Nwaneri as the north London club try to further close the gap on leaders Liverpool, who are seven points clear in the Premier League table.

With the transfer window closed, signing a free agent player is the only way Arsenal could bring a new signing in.

When asked about the possibility, Arteta said: ‘I’ll explore every possible situation and make a decision from there.’

Centre back William Saliba has offered to play up front but his manager laughed off the idea

Kai Havertz is Arsenal’s top scorer so far this season with 15 goals across all competitions

Among the names available are ex-Chelsea man Diego Costa, Carlos Vela and Mariano Diaz.

The 36-year-old ex-Chelsea man Costa was notorious for his antics but scored 52 goals in 89 appearances for the Blues.

Ex-Gunner Vela, 35 was at the north London club from 2005 to 2012. He left Los Angeles FC last month.

And Diaz, 31, who had two separate spells at Real Madrid, is another option.

The loss of Havertz is undoubtedly a major blow. The German is Arsenal’s top scorer so far this season having scored 15 goals across all competitions.

Though, Saliba’s reaction drew a laugh from his boss.

‘Willy is so funny,’ he said.

‘Straight away it was one of his reactions. It’s true as well that he played there (as a youngster). He used to score a lot of goals. But probably a lot of players played there when they were younger.

Former Chelsea striker Diego Costa left Gremio in December and is available as a free agent

Ex-Arsenal striker Carlos Vela, 35, who last played for the Gunners in 2012, is also available

‘Can you imagine (him as a target man)?’

Arteta said that Havertz sustained the injury after a set-piece in training but is confident his team can ride the storm after a series of injuries this season.

Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli, who both have hamstring injuries, are out until at least March and Gabriel Jesus is a long-term absentee with a knee injury.

‘He was going to stop a shot after a set-piece and stretched the leg and he felt his hamstring,’ he added.

‘The injury happened in a very unexpected way, certainly. So it’s a big blow, obviously, because of the injuries that we have. But fortunately, we’ve been through a lot this season.

‘We have played without Gabriel Magalhaes, without (William) Saliba, without Ben White all season, (Takehiro) Tomiyasu all season, (Riccardo) Calafiori two months, (Mikel) Merino two months, Martin Odegaard two months, Bukayo Saka three months, Gabriel Jesus, all of them. So that’s it.

‘That’s the challenge ahead. Love it and look forward because we are still where we are with all the things that I mentioned on top of playing four times with 10 men, blah, blah, blah. So let’s see what the team is made of.’