There have been many Arsenal transfer rumours linking the Gunners with a move for Porto’s Jackson Martinez after Arsene Wenger sang his praiseslast month, but the fact that there is a reported £29.5million transfer fee involved for a striker that will turn 29 this year makes it very unlikely that Wenger would be interested.
For me, a much better bet would be to take the Bazilian Luiz Adriano from Shakhtar Donetsk, who has been extremely impressive for his club in Europe this season. He is 7 months younger than Martinez and even better, he will be available for free in December, which may persuade the Ukranian club to sell him for a small fee in the summer rather than lose him for nothing.
Adriano is no slouch and was actually named by UEFA as MVP of the 2014–15 UEFA Champions League group stage after he scored nine goals in the six matches, including a record-breaking five in one game against BATE Borisov. In the Ukranian Premier League last season he scored 20 goals in 25 games, and ended the season with a total of 25 in all competitions.
Adriano has made it clear that he will be leaving Shakhtar in December. He was quoted in TalkSport as saying: “My plan is to respect the contract, which has not been renewed and will expire in December 2015,” he said.
“I am in a good moment of my career and we’ll do what will be best for me and for the club.
“With my contract set to expire and many good performances, it’ll be difficult to stay in Ukraine.”
If Adriano wants to do the best for Shakhtar, then surely he should let the recoup some of their investment by selling him in the summer instead of seeing out his current contract?
Jackson Martinez has obviously ticked all the boxes for Wenger, but with his age and price definitely against him, surely Adriano would be a much shrewder investment for Arsenal and, you never know, perhaps he could become an instant hit in the Premier League?