Another boring day in the window. I have visited most Arsenal forums today and about 80% of fans don’t want Pipita. I am struggling to understand why? It is not every day that a world class striker becomes available and fans are saying ‘no we don’t want this’. Its like a kid in the sweet shop with loads of options to choose from!
Gonzalo Higuain scored 18 goals in the Italian league (which is very defensive by the way!) and he scored 29 goals in all competitions. In the last 5 years he has been one of the most consistent strikers in Europe, be it in Spain or in Italy. So when I hear fans saying we don’t want Pipita, I don’t understand because it doesn’t look like football reasons to me. Is it because he went to Napoli? I would like to remind fans that players don’t put a price tag on their heads. The football club does. So If Arsenal didn’t meet his valuation and Napoli met his valuation why should we be blaming him for going to Napoli. We act as if we have got loads of world-class options in the window. So lets look at some of the other options shall we?
Paulo Dybala.- Off to Juventus.
Luciano Vietto.- Almost a done deal with Atletico de Madrid.
Jackson Martinez.- Almost a done deal with AC Milan.
That leaves us with a few like Higuain – Icardi, Benzema and Lacazette. Benzema is a dangerous game as Madrid will only sell if they get Aguero. Aguero plays for Man City and you know how difficult it is to buy Aguero. City are no Liverpool. Icardi and Lacazette are great potentials – like Harry Kane for example. In 2013/2014 Icardi scored 9 goals while Lacazette scored 15. They are not proven Internationals and have got no history of moving clubs and adapting to a a new language, or new culture or new style of play. Below is the statistics of Gonzalo for the last 7 years.
–Years— League App—-Goals—Total App–TotalGoals
2008/2009——32———22——44———-24—
2009/2010——32———27——40———-29—-
2010/2011——17———10——25———-14–
2011/2012——35———22——54———-26—
2012/2013——28———16——44———-18—–
2013/2014——32———17——46———-24—-
2014/2015——37———18——56———-29—-
If you take Messi and Ronaldo out of the equation, you won’t find many strikers as consistent as Pipita has shown in the last 7 years. He is 27 years old which for me is the perfect age to get a striker. I will conclude by saying that this guy has a record of one goal in every two games for the last seven years! That is proven consistency. Its not some one-season wonder. Its funny when we say’ no’ to such a player. If we had Costa I would understand – but we have Giroud and Welbeck. No disrespect – and I say it in a very polite way……
Galen
hmmmmmm
I say that is £40 mil of our transfer budget on someone that is maybe a slight upgrade over Giroud. Apparantly we have a £50 mil budget. We might get 20 mil from player sales. so 70 mil in total. That is a big chunk.
Exactly. He really isn’t that good. Just because he played for Real Madrid everyone automatically thinks he’s world class. The only thing that doesn’t lie to you is his goalscoring record, and it’s better than Giroud’s but really not that much better, especially when you consider everything else Giroud gives to the team. To everyone that thinks Higuain is world class, just look at the stats.
Serie A goals at Napoli:
Higuain: 35 goals in 69 appearances.
Cavani: 78 goals in 104 appearances.
That’s a huge gulf, same league, same club. The difference between a good striker and a world class striker.
Even at PSG Cavani has a better goalscoring record than Higuain does at Napoli, despite often playing out wide and being second fiddle to Ibrahimovic – 34 goals in 65 appearances.
If we’re going to spend that kind of money on a striker, I’d go for Cavani over Higuain.
Spending on the transfer fee is not all. Cavanis salary at PSG is just shambolically high for someone not on Messi/Ronaldo-level. Higuain is at least within “reasonable” range.
Still, I’d rather sign Lacazette for ca. the same amount. More goals for your money in the long run. Looking at his last two seasons, he even shows better goal/match ratio.
Cavani really wouldn’t be as expensive as people think. He signed for PSG 2 years ago for €64m, today that converts to £46m. Plus his value will have of course gone down with age, and he doesn’t have the same reputation anymore which would mean he’d be even cheaper.
In terms of wages, it’s not openly public how much he gets, but anywhere from €10-14m is quoted. Even that converts to under £200k a week, even at the €14m end. Plus I’ve heard he’d be willing to drop his wages to move clubs because he wants to play as main striker, which he can’t do at PSG.
to @sevenitti Lacazette has already signed for PSG, so that ship has sailed, Jackson Martinez will join to AC Milan so what´s left: Higuaín, compared to Girould he´s world class, no doubt of it. He doesn´t need 5-7 chances in every game to score 1 goal, that´s the main difference between them. Cavani´s wages are too high for us.
Guys his exactly what we need, the Italian legue is like Galen mentioned very defensive legue and our main problem with Arsenal is breaking down defences with opposition and here is a guy who has been doing just that for the last two years, his muture played for big clubs and he wanted to come to Arsenal but didn’t have a choice when Napoli out bided us by around 10 million
And also hes reaching his peak, at madrid he was not main man and had to arrive from bench in allot of his games. Arsenal and the amount of chances we create he could improve vastly, if he gets double the chances could you not argue he could double his return.
cavani is way better and obvious to those who know football
Cavani couldn’t hit a barn door last season, I don’t think he will leave PSG becouse Zlatan ibrahimovic could leave this season or next so PSG won’t let him go it’s not like they need the money.
Yeh your right. We are much better of with Danny!:)
Yea Danny DeVito HAHA
Now he can score! 🙂
Yea he hase a great center of gravity bit like messy 🙂
According to the stats above, he gets 1 goal every 120mins in league games, which is decent. While he gets 1 goal in every 3 cup games, which isn’t good.
I don’t think he’s much of an upgrade to OG. But overall, 1 goal every 2 games(league cup games) is good. Statistically, Cavani is who I’ll go for.
Higuain “really isn’t that good”…….wow
Enlighten me, what’s the everything else Giroud gives to the team that Higuain doesn’t?
Here’s the WhoScored breakdown covering Higuains time at Madrid/Napoli and Girouds time at Montpellier/Arsenal:
Higuain: 16514mins 131goals 50assists 80.1%Passing (1.4DisP 1.2UnsTch, per 90mins)
Giroud: 14733mins 80goals 24assists 67%Passing (1.7DisP 2.4UnsTch, per 90mins)
*DisP = dispossessed, UnsTch=Bad control per game
There’s your statistical evidence over the course of their careers, pretty obvious conclusions on every front. Couple that with simply watching a game of football and anyone who suggests Giroud to be superior or Higuain to be just marginally better is talking absolute fantasy. Higuain is a 40mil St while Giroud is a 20mil ST.
Finally somebody who´s talking sense, thank you Champagne Charlie!!!!!!!!
He is not worth that much
Our strikers then would be:
Higuain
Walcott
Giroud
Welbeck
Good luck to Wenger making all of them happy!
Is Wellbeck a striker a.k.a centre forward a.k.a goal scorer?
Not yet. But being 24, he might never be either, so choo choo, get out of the way! (aka either play as a winger or get out on loan untill goalscoring qualities are well documented in PL)
Yeh, 24 and does not know where the goal is yet. How old is Kane? How old was Messi/Zlatan/Forlan/Wright/berkgamp/suker/…./….
Danny is a trier and he will make a career somewhere but I personally don’t think it should be at AFC. Sanchez bless him said he has great touch and is a great finisher. Maybe it’s etiquette or maybe lost in translation!!:)
Welbeck 4 league goals in 25 games. Should i explain any further??
I have my doubt about welbeck as well.
You said a bad thing!
Danny is liked by many as a trier, and I too like him for that. He is a great athlete and no doubt when he is on the pitch occasionally he opens up opportunities for others with his endeavours..
BUT surely we need forwards (call me strange) who can score goals and contribute in a bigger way to our overall goal total?
I wouldn’t mind but it’s not as if his exceptionally creative or technical.
If you want AFC to be at the top surely you can’t take umbrage to a suggestion that we could do/get better?
If you want Danny to score more you need to get Walcott in behind fullback after quick counter and Danny keeps up with him for a side footed tap in just like every goal he seems to score for England…. Alternatively you could introduce him to my sister… coughslutclearthroat.
we need a different striker
we as arsenal fans r somehow enchanted during the transfer period…almost everyone ‘now’ believes that we can challenge for the title without 3 top additions as if we are the only team allowed to make transfers in england these summer..
chelsea n manc i believe finished above us cz they r stronger atm n will bcome even better thou they had injuries like we dd so that miracle that u expect to happen am afraid wont
fact..we cant make a whole season without 1 or 2 crucial injuries at some point so adding better quality than we ha is a must for us to challenge for a major title
just sign the players we need mr wenger cz we r the arsenal n we can better even barcelona at our worst
We should definitely go for Higuain within reason.30 Mil max. If not, then Lacazette should be second option.
After a medically completed Higuain was reported spotted at Heathrow airport ……putting a smile on all our faces only to finally be seen holding a Napoli Jersey while smiling to the cams……. The rest is History i guess
Please tell the writer if he doesn’t why majority of us don’t want him. Let him stay put at Napoli. This is a big club, far bigger than Napoli. Why didn’t he help them to get a champions league slot? Our players did that for us. He is not an upgrade except on Sanongo. I was his fan when he was at real but when he treated us badly, I don’t even want him to b mentioned again as rumour that he is coming to us. Okay?
wat
obvious troll is obvious.
Godswill there was nothing he could do he wanted Arsenal but Napoly out bided us by 10 million thats a lot real sold him to Napoly
no you are wrong. real accepted our bid and if higuain wanted arsenal he could have forced through the move. he saw Napoli and arsenal as similar and decided upon the club who wanted him the most.
Ok if you say so but how do you know, I was quating what his father said just before the deal went sour
@Godswill
I don’t even know what to tell you. Sanogo hahahahahahahahahahah. You are clown. lol
I wasn’t sure on Higuain, but this article has changed my mind somewhat. I still think Jackson Martinez should be our first priority as he too has been consistent, scoring even more goals lately, his champions league effort being most impressive. Higuain on the other hand is better than what we currently have so either way I would welcome him with open arms.
We will not win the PL or progress further in the CL without a proven worldclass striker, fact whoever he is.Somebody please reiterate this fact to Wenger.
You may be right. This claim has become the mantra of many fans and analysts – it is very popular to say just now. But it is not an absolute that you are right this.
Giroud produced goals at a higher rate than Costa this season (goals and assists in all comps). Yet somehow Chelsea managed to win the league with Costa. How was that possible???
Better defense for Chelsea. We need a Hummels type defender, that is money well spent.
No disrespect. But where do you get your stats from? the least you can do is to be honest with yourself.
Costa 20 lg goals in 26 games
Giroud 14 lg goals in 27 games
Don’t forget that this is costa 1st season in England. It has taken Giroud 3 years to adapt in the premier league and yet Costa is still miles ahead. I am and arsenal fan too but there is no need to be Bias. Soon you will say per is better than terry. No need for that.
FA cup goals don’t count? Of course they do. OG scored a brace against Middlesboro. A big reason why we continued to push on for a trophy.
OG was on a great streak until the Blues won the title. Everyone seemed to coast for the last 4 games.
Higuain is not world class
he did score at the W(orld) C(up) final though hahah
even if it was called offside he did. 🙂
Don’t ever say there are no available strikers in the whole world except the 3guys you mentioned. Don’t be deceive by press,there are loads of quality strikers in other continent outside europe. We are not scout
Thank You. I have been screaming this for years. Fans tend to get hung up on a few names to the exclusion of all others. Certain names are repeated for weeks. I remember when Wanyama seemed to be the only DM in the world according to many fans on this site – it seems quite silly now does it not??
Demanding specific named players is silly because…..
1. There are many good players out there – not just 1 or 2.
2. The chances of Arsenal picking up the exact player you want is remote in the extreme – you would be better trying the lottery.
I don’t believe 80% of fans don’t want Higuain. Many outspoken fans, even on this site, are adamant that Arsenal must acquire only a top superstar striker.
Hoping for an even more high profile striker is not really the same as not wanting Higuain. Most fans would be thrilled to have him.
we are not used to signing a player who’s Linked twice in two summer windows….. I’ve been thinking
Re-write of the article title:
‘Do Arsenal really want another striker?’
Interested why that got a thumbs down?
Think it’s a pretty valid question. I’m guessing as well as there being no FA employees here there are also no AFC employees. More specifically those who are involved in transfers.
Perhaps AW (unlike many a AFC fan on here and across the world) believes he has a loaded hand and is not lacking in any area?
I for one truly hope this isn’t the case but based on past windows we have to face up to the potential reality that neither a ST, DM or GK will be added this summer.
???
We don’t want him, because he is so inferior to Giroud it’s not even funny. Out of 18 league goals 3 were penalties, which leaves Higuain with 15 goals in 37 appearances. Giroud had 14 goals in only 27 appearances!
Year before Higuain had 17 goals in 32 league appearances, 5 of them penalties. That is only 12 goals from open play! Giroud had 16 goals in 36 appearances, again none were penalties. In Premier league too! He is the better goalscorer, period.
A lot of times people’s opinion about Giroud is clouded, because he doesn’t take the penalties which usually boosts reputation of other various ‘flavour of the month best striker EVAH’. Lets look at Alexandre Lazzacette – he had 27 goals, 8 of them penalties. That is 19 goals from open play. Giroud in his last season at Montpellier had 21 goals, 2 of them penalties – that is 19 goals from open play, which is EXACTLY the same number as supposedly ‘world class’ Lazzacette has! Admittedly, Giroud played 36 games to Lazzacette’s 33, but he also dished out 9 assists to Lazzacette’s 5, which overall makes him better contributor. And to finish it off, Giroud WON his team Ligue 1, which Lazzacette wasn’t able to!
Stop with the Giroud hate, we have better striker than Real Madrid had for like 5 years. Don’t believe stupid journos and pundits, we can win the League with the guy, cut him some slack!
Danny Wellbeck scored 8 from 39 appearances.
So although Higuain or any other player might cost a little bit more than double Wellbexks £16 million fee they would still deliver double the goals and would perhaps be the difference between us finishing 3rd to 1st?
Small margins/big money..
Pure delusion, Higuain plays for Napoli while Giroud has Ozil/Alexis/Cazorla/Ramsey supplying him. Such a biased argument, any fan not connected to Arsenal would laugh uncontrollably at such a statement. Guroud is not better than Higuain for Christ’s sake, wake up.
Mats Hummels, the guy everybody around here and their mother want at their club and undoubtedly a world class defender, named Giroud as one of the 3 toughest opponents he faced (other two being Lewandowski and Mandžukič). If Higuain was good enough, he would mention him, as he obviously played against him in CL one year ago in group stage. Pure delusion? Laugh uncontrolably? Hummels disagrees with your sorry ass and he obviously knows better than you do. Wake up and smell the coffee.
And don’t even get me started on supply thing, Higuain played for RM where they put 10 goals past the likes of Elche and my grandmother would be expected to get 15 g/season. Talk about deluded…
@Arse, i get where youre coming from. However, I consider Welbeck as a third striker, behind Walcott. My main question is, do you change him or leave him as a third option and wait for him to come good? I believe he has all the right requirements, and if there was club and coach where goalscorers are made its Arsenal with Arsene. But thats just my opinion, I’d love to hear yours.
I am not a big higuain fan but the really sad truth is that wenger thinks he has found his world class striker in Walcott …. The cheapest option as well … So board will be happy …And too many fourth place junkies …sorry fans … On this site agree with him … Am beginning to feel like bill murray in f@@@@@@ Groundhog Day
Papita is not dynamic enough. we already have a solid traditional forward in giroud who is very effective against the very physical teams but someone who could mirror Alexis’s energy/movement/dribbling with a more direct approach would be lethal. this would be similar to the front three of Barcelona. I would be disappointed if we got Higuain because he doesn’t improve our squad much more than giroud provides. a quicker, more skillful, and more fluid player should be brought it
We should have bought Dybala.
Kid would have caught fire with us!
@ArseOverTit
Can’t help it if dude wanted to go elsewhere…
Maybe he was wanted @ AFC anyway, or if he was not wanted enough ££€€$$¥¥?
They would have got their man otherwise surely?
@ArseOverTit
You can’t make a player sign for you if he doesn’t want to. Sanchez is proof of that.
As I said. Maybe AW didn’t even approach Palermo. Maybe he/AFC didn’t want him enough as in £££££££!?
Either way IMO it was a fail.
higuin is a skill full,more fluid and quicker than giroud. He consistently out scored benzema even though he didn’t start much. He can score from any angle giving us an aguero type striker
Breaking News;
Charlie Adam believes Asmir Begovic will either sign a new deal with Stoke or leave this summer.
Thanks for that Charlie.
porto president said martinez is off to milan…
No point in signing a striker unless he is a clear upgrade over what we have. We did not struggle for goals last year and that was without Walcott for most of the year and Giroud and Ramsey missing several months too. Strengthen the spine of the team instead.
why do so many give soring stats like it will instantly translate into our team? we know from seeing a player play how good he is and some might have an eye to how a player might translate into our side but none will figure it out with math.
it was so obvious that Walcott transforms our side. he runs in behind more then others and has an eye for goal equal to sanchez. we need him in our starting 11. i’m sure wenger had his reasons for keeping out but higuain isn’t an upgrade or better.
you want us to buy Higuiane when we have giroud ! do you want us to us to die before our time? we still find space in our hearth to manage giroud you want us to add someone that will score one goal in 10 chances
Madrid probably ruined him with himself having to curb selfishness so to offer up to their god Ronaldo.
i have always said no to higuain… his stats are poor… not a guaranteed 30+ goals/season player.. his stats on cup games are extremely poor.get martinez or lucazzete
Paco alcacer would be my top target this kid is emense and under the radar just how wenger likes them he would cost around 25m due to his long contract but he can be emense
I also put krychowiak in that category
Of topic sterling would be the perfect guy to mirror Sanchez on the right as chamberlain future is through the middle and Walcott up top