Arsenal’s Striker options by Ben Dungate
With the signing of Gabriel Jesus and re-signing of Eddie Nketiah, Arsenal have provided themselves with some attacking options for next season. But is it enough…
I, like many, perhaps have more hope than faith in Eddie’s development. I suspect he will always be a capable striker but probably fall short of the status we want and need.
Jesus, on the other hand, has established himself as a proficient, if not prolific striker, competent out wide as well as as the front man. But do we risk being back where we were at the end of last season if we fail to bring in another body?
One injury to either of them and we find ourselves with zero options. And even when Eddie was playing well and scoring at the end of the season, I always felt Arteta was itching to bring him off. For this reason, despite the new contract I don’t think Arteta is completely convinced.
So, who? My number one choice, even before we brought in Jesus, was Jonathon David from Lille. Aged just 22, averaging a goal every three games is decent, but it’s his overall play that impresses me.
He was among the top strikers in Europe for closing down and is well known for his defensive work rate as well as his scoring. Plus he seems to be a fan of our great club.
He seems to me to be exactly the type of player we want and need and would compliment Jesus and Eddie. Plus he is strong in the air, something we currently lack.
It would be nice to see, but at this point probably unlikely to happen as we seem to have turned our eyes towards other forwards. This could be the one that got away.
Ben
CALLING ALL ARSENAL FANS! Anyone who would like to contribute an Article or Video opinion piece on JustArsenal, please contact us through this link…
JUST ARSENAL VIDS- Gabriel Jesus first ever Arsenal interview!
Please enjoy, watch and subscribe to JustArsenalVids
Andrea Belotti, something different and available on a bosman.
I was wondering where he’s going this summer esp for a free… I’d take a punt on him.
AS Monaco have in are closing on Belotti signing(3 years contract).
Ben, you need to write MORE! This brief “note” is not sufficient to make a case for your headline You should have given other names too and then we could have aproper debate.
YOU CERTAINLY CAN WRITE , SO WHY STOP SO QUICKLY, WHEN WE NED MORE FROM YOU?
He has created a platform for others to suggest their preference..
YES, HE HAS, BUT HE HAS SAID LITTLE OF HIS OWN.
And THAT is my point. And my opinion, to which I am entitled!!
You may disgree but I DO NOT THINK IT YOUR ROLE AS AN ADMIN TO TELL REGULAR POSTERS OFF FOR GIVING OUR PERFECTLY FAIR OWN OPINIONS.
In fact PAT, AT ONE TIME, YOU RARELY POSTED YOURSELF.
NOW, you cannot resist telling off all and sundry whose posts you personally disagree with.
Seems to me you need to decide if you are a poster OR an Admin!
MY OPINION IS THAT YOU CANNOT WEAR TWO HATS SIMULTANEOUSLY WITHOUT ONE “HAT” INTERFERING WITH THE OTHER.
I wasn’t telling g you off youngster. I was just explaining why he only gave one option…
I would like to see us in for Osimhen, Vlahovic, Gakpo, or Lautaro Martinez. All of them have great qualities but personally I would love to see Vlahovic who is good in the air and has fantastic holdup play too. We really do need world class striker although I can see Eddie being almost guaranteed a real fighting chance having been given a new contract and MASSIVE wage increase!
We need an affordable towering CF who can be dominant in aerial duels/ hold-up play and is willing to rotate with our existing CFs:
– Alexander Sorloth
– Breel Embolo
– Joshua Zirkzee
Denis from Watford in my opinion.
Most EPL CF won’t want to be a third choice.. If Arteta believes enough in Pepe he can be used he is the tallest of all Arsenal front line but I don’t know how good he is aerially.
I think Emmanuel Dennis is similar to Jesus and Nketiah, stature wise. I agree that most young EPL CF would like to be a regular starter
Pepe is quite good in aerial duels when playing against short fullbacks, but I think the likes of Van Dijk and Maguire will always tower over him
We need One or Two from
This List
Denise from Watford (Cheap)
Ivan Toney from Brentford
David Jonathan from Lille
Taking into consideration there are other positions that still need to be addressed(Midfield, Leftback, winger) and with a limited budget, I highly doubt we are going to spend big money on another striker, so a realistic option would be Weghorst imho, who should not cost more than £10-15M. He joined Burnley in January, so now has some EPL experience, would be that target man we need with his aerial ability but also has good feet for a tall man, who I’m sure would be willing to fight it out with Eddie to be back up to Jesus.
Weghorst played well in Euro, but he’s heading to Beksitas
That’s a shame, can’t think of many options out there who would be willing to be third choice pushing second choice at best and would be relatively cheap deal.
I would go for Ivan Toney, he’s played in the premier league, doesn’t have to take months to acclimatise to our country and he scores goals and is a great penalty taker, I’m surprised he hasn’t been snapped up already.
Tammy Abraham for me, Armando Broja off the bench would be good, Gnabry would be great for the wings, but as always Arteta Knows Best, so what is good for Arteta is good for me. But we need to move Leno, Pepe out first.
We need Luka Juvic of real Madrid
De Ketelaere
Paul Onuachu 6’7” 63 goals in 93 games for Genk,, excellent choice for 70+ minutes when we need to go direct to a target man and for rotation and to compete with Nketiah for number two striker role. Linked to us previously as an apparent young Arsenal fan.
I was thinking the same! Has the tools to do the job, great for plan B, and won’t cost a fortune in transfer or wages.
I agree iNkeitiah is not the answer. Was crazy to give out a 5 year contract on big money. 1) he’s not worth it. 2) never sell him because of his wages.
Of course we do have Martinelli as a choice in the middle if needs must. Cannot see us spending large,but if so Osemhein or try to tempt Frank for DCL. Perhaps offer a couple of players + cash.
Personally I think nketiah is a bargain and a star of the near future. And 100k a week? Sol Campbell got that when he joined us…how long ago?
Adpat, totally agree.
Nketiah is a star in the making. Mark this post for the future, even if it isn’t at Arsenal he has all the hall marks of being a great striker and most importantly the attitude to become a world class forward.
Funny that if we don’t spend millions of pounds that the player is ready for the scrap heap.
Can I also add that I don’t think this is the last we hear of AMN or Nelson. On their day they are undropable.
Watch this space.😁
Campbell was on a completely different level – he was already well established as an international class CB and was unquestionably ready to go straight into the first team. He was essentially our van dijk signing, it’s just not remembered that way because AW had the foresight to get him while we still had Adams, so he achieved continuity – it’s actually a great achievement now that I think about it. He was able to replace mr arsenal without losing a beat!
I concur wholeheartedly with your views on David, who impresses me as a very capable all round striker.That said, with the acquisition of Jesus, I very much doubt we will move for him bearing in mind that we also have the talented Marginelli in the wings and he may well develope into a very effective central striker.In the midst of all the speculation concerning the need for another winger, I think we should not forget that we have, in my opinion, a terrific wide player in ESR.
Noah Okafor or Cody Gakpo are cheaper alternatives.
I dont think we need another striker. We have Martinelli and Balogan. That should be enough reserve. The focuse needs to be in the middle if the park and LB.
We don’t need a huge squad just players who can play multiple positionsz. Especially when finances are a issue for a club
Exactly
i agree,we need another forward but after signing Jesus and Eddie,there is no way we would go after a big name.the player in question would have to accept the fact that he won’t be first or even 2nd choice.i reckon that we’ll target either a young player looking to further develop ,who sees Arsenal as a big step up or a towering CF in his mid to late 20’s ,who would have no problems with being the plan B/impact sub.
Toney or Moore from Bournemouth.
It wouldn’t surprise me if Balgun is the third choice atleast until January. I feel the money will be invested else where
Bring back Giroud to throw on at 75’ when we need a big boy goal
Jesus is the replacement for Auba, and Eddie for Laca. Can play Balogun in the easier cup games against weak teams.
We don’t really need another striker unless of cos there is availability of exceptional creative forwards like Bergkamp, Berbatov or beast like Drogba.
If you bring in another striker Nketiah and Balogun will eventually get pissed off. City coped reasonably well with only Jesus as main striker and we have Saka,Odegaard, ESR, Martinelli and Pepe who are all capable of playing up front and scoreing ! We have enough new players. JRS
Arsenal need a striker with physical presence. All the teams around Arsenal have that capability. City & pool both purchased this year to address that. To me that is most important than any other area. LF cover we have AMN if required. In MF another strong body is required but a strong striker should be top most priority. With European games 3 strikes are required.We couldn’t score enough goals last year.