The striker situation at Arsenal has already been the matter of quite a bit of debate, for us fans and for those paid to talk about football and the Premier League. The problem is certainly not of the numerical variety, because even if Joel Campbell joins Lukas Podolski out the Emirates exit door, we would still have plenty of options.
They say you really need two players for each position and Arsenal have Giroud, Welbeck, Walcott, Alexis, Akpom, Sanogo and then there is Oxlade-Chamberlain and Gnabry who have often played in a wide forward role, not to mention Arsene Wenger’s tendency to put Ramsey, Wilshere, Ozil, Rosicky or Cazorla out there.
The problem for those that think the Gunners must sign a striker this summer is quality, but here lies another problem, highlighted by this interesting article in The Guardian. The essence of the report is that there are simply not nearly enough top quality strikers around and those that do exist are in serious demand.
Take Napoli’s ridiculous valuation of Gonzalo Higuain, for example. They would not even try to get away with that if there were a lot more options out there. So not only does Wenger have to identify a player that is significantly better than what we already have, he then has to compete with all the other clubs in Europe after a striker, including Man United, Man City and Liverpool and that is just England.
Look at Chelsea, forced to take a punt on Falcao. Look at City who have spent big money on the likes of Negredo and Jovetic without getting the results. Maybe Arsenal fans just need to be glad that we managed to get the brilliant Alexis Sanchez without too much trouble last summer. What do you think?
So we are not going to sign anyone??? Even a winger????a DM???this is crazy… It’s the quality that counts not quantity… Yaya doesn’t even count as a striker. We have giroud, Theo and welbeck. And as I said before welbeck and Theo struggle to play as a lone striker. We definitely need a top striker. I think we missed out on a number of classy forwards already, Martinez and bacca….
WTF are you talking about!? We’re 10 days into the window!!
Seriously all this negative bullsh#t you’re spreading is absolutely mental! It was only this exact day last year that we wrapped up Sanchez. Are you really that dumb that you can’t comprehend just because the media isn’t all over it we’re working on deals??
No need to be insulting a worried fan…I’m just nervous, get it??? As days pass us fans are getting more desperate.. Plz don’t insult and try to understand your fellow gooner
Not one thing I said in that comment was personal. Unless the answer to the question I asked in my final question is yes? In that case, yes my inference of dumb would be insulting… But true
The answer is no..so I’m OK I guess. It’s just that I would like us to make early signings for once.
Signing Cech less than a week into the summer transfer window doesn’t count as an early signing? Especially considering the Copa America was going on until then, which means a lot of South American talent was focused on things other than potential transfers…
Cech alone is not enough.we could have got kondogbia or Morgan and Martinez by now.players that we missed out on cuz we acted late
The last I checked, Schneiderlin is still available for the right price and Martinez is not a good buy for the price that was being demanded. I’d much rather get Lacazette.
calm down
this is not arsenal.com and justarsenal is not arsene Wenger, this is just mere speculation
These articles are OPINION. This article is NOT fact or even based on inside information. Your comment suggests you see this article as some kind of divine revelation.
NONE OF US know anything about Wenger’s plans. NONE OF US. This is just an article with one opinion about Wenger and strikers – merely designed as a vehicle for prompting comments. Nothing more.
I have no knowledge of Wenger’s plans but would bet my life savings he does not sign a striker. The market simply sucks.
I think that is a logical assumption.
R u sure your not being paid to make excuses for Wenger?everytime we talk about buying a striker some akb fan boy has to come up with”theres no one in the market”or “hes not wc look at his stats hes just slightly better than Giroud”.Just be honest you guys an say you personally don’t want to see any signings,then explain why if you can,don’t keep talking waffle about how the market sucks,we’re not trying to replace Henry or Bergkamp,only Giroud and with literally 10’s if not 100’s of players out there this task cannot be impossible IF you have the will
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. Buying is not the answer, selling is the way. #WarChest
Ibrhimovic is available for As little as 4m would be an excellent signing like cech quality and experienced. Only competition would be Man U
Who would we have to compete with?
Ac Milan just signed luiz Adriano and baca
Chelsea got falqao
Liverpool have 5st plus benteke?
Juve dyblaya n mandzukic
Wenger thinks signing a striker would damage Theo and welbeck. He’s not being ruthless as he was with ospina.but I’m sure he knows how important a world class striker can be to our title hopes.if let’s say a player like benzema is available he would try to sign him, but Wenger is not all out looking for a striker. He actually thinks we are OK and is waiting to see what happens in the market and who becomes available. We should have signed Martinez….we missed out on a top striker
Stop speaking in absolute’s when you clearly know nothing.
It’s assumptive trash thrown at us like it’s factual.
Seancali… Remembering that username. Really going to enjoy telling you exactly where to go when Wenger pulls off his marquee move!!
I would be happy if we pull off a top class signing, I would perhaps be the happiest of all. Hope your right and Wenger does have a surprise after all
Great. Then stop predicting ‘no signings’ and bumming everyone out!!
The article itself is saying we won’t get a striker. I would love us to get a striker or DM. I’m just saying are we going to get anyone????I’m a bit stressed out, that’s all. I will try to keep calm till this fkin window shuts down
If a striker as good at his position as check is at his were available and wanted to come to Arsenal, they would sign him. Czech was a unique situation in that we had no competition because he wanted to stay in London. There are no good buys at striker this year. Only bad buys, reaches and ridiculous price tags.
I’m personally holding tight after the Muzzi Ozcan tweet. By the sounds of things we’re at the bare minimum in the works for a quality player. Keen to see if it’s worthy of marquee!
The doomsdayers seem out in full swing on the previous thread. Quite depressing really, wrapped up a world-class goalkeeper 10 days into the very long window and non-stop negative predictions and slating of our players. Not cool
slating of players NOT COOL?….
Can i shock you?….Quality players are brought in through the door…and garbage( unwanted players ) are thrown out through the window…
if you’re lucky, you get paid some quid…and if you’re not, you have to say to the receiving club…THANK YOU FOR ACCEPTING GARBAGE :))
very long window?the season starts earlier this year an some premier league teams are already playing preseason games,always full of excuses@josh37
We have no chance of winning the bpl with our current strikers.everyone knows that.surely if we try we can sign benzema or dzeko or higuain or Muller…its all about wanting to spend big
LOL. We have no chance of winning the BPL? We finished 12 points behind Chelsea last season even with our defense leaking more than the Titanic for the first HALF of the season. Despite key injuries to Ozil, Giroud and Walcott, we scored 2 less goals than Chelsea, and 9 more goals than United, who finished 4th in both standings and goals for.
Do you want to know what cost us the title? Giving up goals. 2 against Everton, 1 against Leicester, 2 against Hull City, 2 against Swansea, 2 against Man United and 3 against Stoke City. Out of those 6 Matches, if we concede 1 less goal each game, that 9 more points, before January 1st.
rubbish,just more excuses,we didn’t win the league because our squad and our manager aren’t good enough.Accept it
Chelsea won the title with defense. Our attack is just as good as their attack, maybe better.
LOL.and what is this based on?not last years league table clearly
seancali calm down justarsenal is not arsene wenger and how are you sure we were ever in for martinez and the likes.. Guess we are getting either a wide forward or striker, wenger knows best
Mhiz pel I would be happy with a wide forward. On the Wenger thing I think most of us fans know how Wenger thinks by now. We are used to it. And I said we missed out on Martinez that means we should have made a move for him.I know we didn’t make a move and that hurts the most.we didn’t even try..I can’t calm down I want us to win the bpl this season. We can’t without a top striker or as you said a top wide forward
Why all the thumbs down????you guys don’t want us to win the bpl???why???what’s wrong with our supporters???I just don’t get it…what was wrong with Martinez??? If he wasn’t quality why at.Madrid signed him???
don’t mind them,half of these guys don’t know football
Arsenal may not buy the players that will help push for the title.
Sounds about right…. Deja vu anyone?
Seancali i feel that way also but justarsenal is just a fansite to share our thoughts… We dont know what wenger has up his sleeves so lets just wait and see and hope for the best.. Sure the wait might be too long cos we are human.. Coyg
Mhiz pel that’s where my problem comes in, I can’t wait…I’m just too nervous and worried. I want us to win the bpl. I’m tired teams like Chelsea and city winning it while we keep on finishing fourth. And this season after 10 years we have a chance, add a couple of top classy players and we cabpn push for the title. Anyways I don’t want to be negative or think that I know best, I just want my arsenal to wake up. Time to spend and challenge
This is NOT a shocking proposition. I have been convinced completely that Wenger was unlikely to go for another striker because ……..
1. Wenger already has Giroud, Welbeck, Walcott, Akpom and even Sanchez if needed. (I refuse to recognize Sanogo as a qualified striker).
2. The cost of getting a significantly better striker is too high for Wenger.
3. Wenger prefers to fill the pitch with talented CAMs.
I am not arguing for or against picking up a striker. I simply believe that Wenger is not really interested in getting another striker.
Agree with your premise, hope he has a change of tune…but makes the Gotze possibility all the more plausible ayy?
I agree mohawk – appears many only see a single blueprint for winning the league and it revolves almost entirely around the centre forward conundrum. I’d say OG scoring close to 1 in 2 would be an odds -on bet – and our title credentials would then hinge around what our wide forward combo contributed – an Alexis/Walcott combo, or pushing out the credibility boundaries a little further even Alexis/Pedro, Alexis/Reus, Alexis/Gotze combos. I have banged on about it elsewhere but many of the European elite team’s successes are not contingent on a CF banging in 25-30 league goals. And perhaps even more importantly for us is how our back 6 defensive unit performs.
1 in 2 is ok,but its not like it was years ago.footballs more attacking these days,we need a striker who can do better than that like Aguero or Costa.You say that many elite european teams have sucess without a prolific striker,but you failed to name them.lol.There are exceptions but on the whole most of the top teams have a WC striker a go to man from Barca(european champiions) to real madrid to PSG and even Bayern Munich all have WC centre forwrards up front.To try an argue otherwise is facile
So Costa has a worse league goal/game ratio than Giroud and you want to use him as an example??!! Nice. Aguero’s career league goal/game ratio is almost exactly 0.5. Nice.
Have a check how many goals the centre forwards at Juve, Real Madrid, Bayern, Barca, PSG have scored in the last 2 seasons and come back to me on that one. Discount the penalties and only Ibra has scored more than 20 in the last 2 seasons – with 21.
Is that facile enough for you??
i didn’t mention numbers,i said WC,i was very careful to do this.im afraid your agruement is just stupid,and i notice you didn’t give any examples of top teams who don’t have a wc striker upfront
And btw – Aguero not a CF.
lol.not only do you know nothing about football,you are also a lier,you said Aguero’s goals per game average is 0.5.no its not its higher than that
Sanogo is being loaned out again. Gnabry may be in the same situation (not gone to Asia tour). Alexis is not really a CF and is best used as one of our wide men. Ox is not a CF. Leaving Akpom (youth), Giroud, Welbeck and Walcott. SO 4 players in that position. If we suggest Akpom may not be ready, 3 players. IF we then suggest that Welbeck is mostly utilised from the wing and not the CF position you get 2. So Theo and Giroud as CF with even Theo as a converted CF at this time and not fully fleshed out.
No, we still have room for a CF signing. BUT I understand if the signing doesn’t happen. I’m hoping it will but I also hope it isn’t a HUGE pay packet that isn’t worth it. The only player worth the risk in my view now is Lacazette or Benzema. Nobody else fits the bill well enough. Even those 2 are probably too much.
Random thought – what if the random deal is Bale? That really would blow things up…
Lol at bale
Just a funny thought as it was mentioned ALOT not so long ago…then silence. That’s usually what happens with us until about 2 days before the deal goes flying through.
Just wanna point out how RvP was a winger and turned out to be a fantastic CF for us, from the start he shown he could do the job as a CF and through oppertunities he had the chance to proove himself… before being injured on international duty >.<'
Henry was a winger at Juve and it took him a few games to get scoring but is there anyone who would say he wasn't a great CF?
Theo isn't a 'converted' CF… He is a CF that was converted to right wing, he is just going back into the CF role. He hasn't had the consistant oppertunity to prove himself as a CF but when he has played there he has done the job fantasticly.
Wenger thinks he is now ready and appears to be showing faith in him by not playing him out wide at the end of last season but as cover for Giroud, Theo was getting back from injury and I am glad Wenger didn't rush him back like he has had to do previously…
If Wenger thinks he is ready then I honestly belive that us Arsenal fans should show some trust, he was right with both Henry and RvP so lets give Theo a chance!
removing Welbeck from the CF list was kinda funny, yeah he may spend most the time out wide but if Giroud and theo both get injured or what-ever then we can rely on Welbz to play CF and just play the Ox out on the right with Alexis on the left… or if Ox is also injured then we can play Gnabry out on the right.
I wouldn't mind a RW signing BUT if Wenger has seen enough from Gnabry to trust him then I am inclined to also trust Gnabry… I haven't forgotten how he performed when he has played and I would be happy to see more of that, not like he'll be main starter as Welbz is senior and Ox needs to build up his fitness consistancy. Roation could be the answer… Oh and not forgetting Wellington Silva who I do hope will loaned to a EPL team to get experience of this league.
I’m not saying Welbeck or Walcott are not CFs. I’m saying that there is still the space there if you want to rationalise it. Van Persie was a striker/winger but was always a striker for Arsenal from quite early on. Henry was a converted winger, yes, but he converted. It took quite a while before he bedded down into the superstar he became and he was younger than Theo when it happened. Neither Theo nor Welbeck have a complete season as a CF under their belt – they are still wide forwards and that is fine – if you want to rationalise a new striker you say they are WFs and if you want to rationalise no new striker you say they are capable of being CFs. MY point is that a new CF is a good signing and contrary to the point of the OP we are not flush with CFs – we are flush with POSSIBLE CFs. It’s not like Man Utd last year (Van Persie, Rooney, Falcao, Wilson) or City (Dzeko, Jovetic, Aguero, Bony) who are all CFs by trade – all our CFs are versatile bar Giroud. As an actual CF no-one except Giroud is a specialist there so rationalising a CF signing is still very easy. Whether we need one…well I’d say yes but only at the right price 🙂
Not going to argue – all reasonable points, but City and United have tended to play with 2 up front so I would expect a longer, deeper list of players. You only have to look at Chelsea to see the point – next season it will be Costa and then the Falcao punt and after that the Shed boys are going in to depression with the realisation that Remy is probably off. It may not be music to everyone’s ears but think our transfer dealings for a new forwards may ultimately depend on what “agreement” Wenger has reached with Theo about his position/role going forward.
You may casually dismiss Akpom and Welbeck as not really counting as qualified strikers for some reason, but I can assure you that Wenger and especially the Arsenal finance department do not so casually dismiss 2 of their striker options as illegitimate.
Ask yourself these 2 questions…….
1. What will it cost in transfer fees and salary to get a striker who are significantly better than Giroud/Walcott? Higuain might only add 5 goals above Giroud and they want 60-90 mil for him? Benzema? Not a significant improvement. Etc.
2. What do you do with the current crop of players who will now not get playing time as striker? Walcott, Giroud, Welbeck etc. They would need to be sold – probably at a loss, but it could be done.
All fans would LOVE to have a better strike option. But when you compare the relative costs it probably makes more sense to get a B2B/DM to cover for Coq. To get a striker who would surpass Giroud significantly is only an option for clubs with massive wealth. Wenger must be more clever. Unlike Mourinho, he cannot buy new 50-60 mil players weekly.
If Wenger can find a promising striker for a reasonable price/salary then we would ALL welcome it. But the outlook is dim. Maybe Wenger will surprise.
Everyone is hoping for a Wenger surprise. Ffs…we don’t need a surprise we just need Wenger to sign a striker band DM ..he has to do that…sign the players we need
I know metro is not reliable but if Higuain wants £43.3m Arsenal move then we should’t even consider it. He is good but not £43.3m good and I think he could choose us before Napoli if he really wanted to join us. If it not been for greedy agents and some strikers being used to getting something like £250,000 a week, then Arsenal would be dream club for strikers join.
Behind you Cazorla,Ozil and Sanchez? Say whaaaaat!!
World class or not we should only get players who also prioritise other things and not just money.
Ozil, Sanchez and Cech could all join another big club and certainly could get more money, but they chose us. Best and most combative league in the world and in one of the best big cities in Europe if not the best .London + Arsenal.
It is a no brainer really.
The question is……
How much of an improvement in goal production would Higuain bring? 5 goals a season? Even for 43 mil that is 3 times what Wenger paid for Giroud for only a minor improvement in goal production. And I don’t believe Higuain can get to 35 goals in the EPL.
Giroud is not a bad striker.he is quality but he needs a backup or someone who could really challenge him.I would settle with dzeko.we don’t need a world class striker we need someone who can score goals.lacazete is not world class but can score goals.same goes to dzeko or even a striker like negredo
He is average. He is not quality and yes he deserves a place in Arsenal as…3rd choice striker.
I like Dzeko but I would pick Lacazette. We need pace not some slow moving piece of wood (Giroud) that can’t even dribble to save his life.
Like it or not, Walcott is the other striker to backup/compliment Giroud.
You are being extremely generous to Higuain. I did a thread not long ago on the goal-scoring returns of all the oft named “top strikers” in Europe. I have an obsession with discounting penalties from the count, firstly because the ridicule heaped on Giroud should be tempered with like-for-like numbers (perhaps we should add Cazorla’s 7 penalties to his total to even things up) and secondly everyone bangs on about the “create something from nothing” centre forward so don’t see why penalties count. Higuain has average 16 league goals from open play in a season for the last 5 years. (And the equivalent number for others is Benzema 16, Cavani 18, Ibra 17 and Falcao 13). Even if you add in his 8 penalty conversions it only creeps up to 17.5 – so 35 is probably a generous stretch. You will get those that claim his goal return will increase massively with our midfield talent behind him but I don’t buy that.
Haha, we share the same obsession (regarding penalties) 😀 I did a similar analysis between Giroud and Lazzacette a while back, comparing their last seasons in french top flight. Turns out their numbers are extremely similar when you don’t count penalties, difference being Giroud won his team the championship…
I have a strong feeling that we will be getting Raheem Sterling !!!!
wenger always likes young talents which he can mould in his style of play and if such a young talent is ENGLISH then i dont think wenger will be having second thoughts
Besides sterling is missing his training sessions
liverpool have already found replacement in firmino so….
man city are in for him but if he really wanted to join them, he would have already done that as money is no bar for man city !!!
We need to get Pedro from Barca, move Theo to permanent CF. Theo is ready, he’s fast, great positioning and his finishing has improved dramatically then we have giroud as back up. If we can’t cavani/Ibra or anyone in that ilk then let’s not spend our money on Higuain which is not worth 40 mil.
Did someone just mention Sanogo, Welbeck and Akpom as striking options? I you kidding me? Sometimes i just wonder if some Arsenal fans really want us to ever win the EPL again or UCL! If we want to be truly contenders for the EPL we should go out there and bid for true quality, they are there just put the right money on the table and you will get it. With the right money on the table we can get Lewandoski or Cavani. Or settle for Lacazette as an alternative. Anything less than that will simply not be good enough.
I agree that our striking options are pathetic but lewandoski is not leaving bayern to go play at arsenal, cavani is not leaving PSG to go play at Arsenal. You’re just as deluded as the ones who think sanogo/welbeck are good enough. Having said that, I know we’re getting a big time striker but i hope its benzema and not Higuain. Instead of having Higuain i would rather have theo play CF and buy pedro as his replacement in RW
What about dzeko!???
Is that the Dzeko with an identical league goals/game ratio as Giroud? The one who has 34 league goals in the last 3 seasons compared to Giroud’s 41? Just asking because sometimes think people use some sort of currency conversion rate when comparing their fave players’ goal tallies to our dear old Ollie.
I think its rather funny to say that am delusional for saying we should go for Cavani and Lewandoski in one sentence then go on and say you hope we get Benzema in the next. The last time i checked three of them can be regarded to be on the same level and highly valued by their present clubs.
If we get sterling then someone has to move because having Ox, Tho and him would maybe work but not in the long run as they also compete for play in national team and Ox has better chance o on the wings than midfield when Cazorla, Ramsey and Wilshere are all fit. I really don’t believe in Theo CF thing, specially with having Giroud and even Welbeck being better suited for CF role. only chance for Theo is because we don’t have a striker who can claim first choice and think Theo
will become too one dimensional alone in CF role. Just analyze is bit.
Not a big fan of Giroud but he makes it hard for CB’s by using his body against them and holding up play. Welbeck is a workhorse and has that physical ability to also use his body + he has speed.
We all now he lacks finishing but it can be learned, besides that he everything is in his favor to become good striker and maybe a great one day. If someone should know that then it must be us Arsenal fans. (Not comparing him to Henry but we also know he was far from complete when he joined us)
lol…so Giroud makes up for lack of goals, dribbling, poor finishing, skills, set piece mastery, speed etc by putting his body on defenders and holding play? So you think his average quality is justified because of this?…because he uses his body on defenders and “hold up play”? Do you realize Aguero, Messi, Tevez and the likes are stronger than Giroud when it comes to body to body? They aren’t even huge. Do you realize that almost every CF/ST in professional football does holdup play? Danny F*ing sings is brilliant at holdup play too.
And finishing can be learned? So why hasn’t he learnt it for 3 years?
HTF do people….?? WTF?? I don’t even comprehend. I am lost for words.
If you’re stuck in a delusion expecting Giroud to be great and first choice then know that we are finishing 4th again next season.
From the way things are looking giroud would be our first choice unless a miracle happens and let’s say aguero moves to Madrid and benzema decides to join us.
Well…then @Seancali, I apathetically announce that we have finished 4th next season and have been eliminated from the CL at the round of 16. We should start looking forward to 2016/2017.
As I said i’m not a big Giroud fan but my point was that there is a reason why Wenger chooses Giroud before Walcott and Welbeck and pointing out that both Welbeck and Giroud provides more in CF than Walcott. How is possible to misunderstand this?
Stop jumping to conclusions before actually understanding what people write.
English is my 3rd language but most people who try understand actually understand.
Get it?
You come across as ill-informed. Consult any football coaching manual in existence and you will see hold up play at the top of the list for a lone CF. And not sure why you cite three guys who are not centre forwards and whose job description does not major on hold up ability. Aguero feeds off Dzeko, Tevez off Llorente etc.
And you say “lol…so Giroud makes up for lack of goals, dribbling, poor finishing, skills, set piece mastery, speed etc”. He has 30 league goals for the past 2 seasons with 3 months out from open play – Benzema has 32, Higuain has 30, Cavani has 29, Ibra has 32 – you would have to say he has done pretty well to mix it with these guys with his zero talent/ability wouldn’tyou?
I said this a dozen times,we can get a winger and move Theo to cf. This could be our second option.that is if we can’t sign a top striker.Pedro would be a great buy.Pedro and Sanchez on the wings would be lethal. Or rues, or gotze. Just staying positive. In Wenger I still trust. Hope he won’t let us down this transfer window
I have also long advocated for a winger. I think the lack of width is the biggest remaining weakness in Wenger’s tactical approach. But the reality is……….
1. Wenger prefers to use CAMs all over the pitch like interchangeable parts and he is making the decisions.
2. Wenger has invested his time and confidence in players like Ox, Ramsey, Wilshire. And Arsenal still also have Welbeck, Rosicky who will likely get no playing time. Some player(s) would need to sit out certainly. Ramsey is a manager and fan favorite so he won’t go. Ox has shown the most promise and improvement of anyone. Jack would likely need to sit out or be sold. I don’t see Wenger doing that either.
However, Wenger sometimes surprises me. Who knows?
Everyone seems to think we should use wingers as cf.. give it a break. No time for trial and error. Go get higuain or benzema by spending the required money. And for all you professors and degree carriers in economics please do find another sport like table tennis because there is too much money in football and Arsenal football club to put up with all the rubbish about he is too expensive and he is not worth that.
If we are not signing anymore world class players this summer, forget about winning any major league trophies. Not even a chance.