After the Arsenal director Lord Harris dropped the bombshell today about Arsene Wenger being able to spend almost any amount he liked to bring in a big name player or players to the club, the football media is understandably full of talk about who the Frenchman should splash the cash on and a lot of that talk is about a striker.
But reports yesterday suggested that Olivier Giroud has been given a new contract and with talks underway with Theo Walcott to tie him to the club, plus Wenger stating that young Chuba Akpom would be given some game time this season rather than going out on loan, there is not much space in the squad for a new forward.
You know that Alexis Sanchez is not going anywhere, so that leaves just Danny Welbeck. If I was him I would be very worried about my place in the Arsenal team. Let’s be honest Gooners, he did alright in his debut season with the Gunners but his return of eight goals in 34 games and just four in the Premier League was not exactly brilliant.
Were his performances enough to convince Wenger that he is a vital part of the Arsenal squad and that his goal tally will improve? Or could the rumours about a possible transfer away from the club be true and could the boss be waiting for this to be done before spending some of our millions on a really big name striker?
Mr. Harris said arsend gave them a list of players he wants which include a striker. My question is if we dont get a striker should arsene be soley blamed
Didn’t Wenger say that if he was in the country he wouldn’t have signed Welbeck. Apart from that eight goals in a season isn’t good enough. You get payed big money you have to deliver.
No, he said he would have signed him on loan. Eight goals isn’t too bad a return for the number of games he played, a lot of which he wasn’t playing as a central striker. He lead the line well when other players were out, not to mention getting the goal that got us past United on the way to winning the FA Cup. Also, it’s ‘paid’, not ‘payed’.
Now look at the returns Sanchez gave us who didn’t play upfront. I think we are at a turning point of the club we need to spend big money on the right players. That doesn’t include buying players of Welbecks caliber.
Sanchez is better than Welbeck. Not a surprise.
Andrew, Sanchez is a starter, Welbz is not. In my mind Welbeck is there to replace an injured Sanchez (or rival Ox to do it), also an injured Giroud but only for a time being til we get the man Wenger wants. Amazing how many people believe that a replacement sub should have the qualities of the man he’s replacing, do these people watch football.
Couldn’t agree more, some people think we can keep 25 world class players happy. Fact is only 11 players start and 7 make the bench. Until new signings are made Danny welbeck still makes my match day squad, even when everyone is fit. He is a versatile forward, one who digs in, links the play and more often than not offers end product. Look a couple of seasons ago we were pinning our hopes on the likes of chamakh and bendtner. Now we have the likes of welbeck, wilshire, Walcott, Ramsey, chamberlain, rosicky fighting for one spot in the x1 and a place on the bench. If everyone was fit and on form, what would your x1 and bench be? Mine is
Cech
Bellerin Gabriel koscielny Monreal
Coquelin cazorla
Wilshire ozil alexis
Walcott
Ospina, Debuchy, gibbs, Ramsey, chamberlain, Welbeck, giroud.
Sanchez: 25 goals, almost every match, 35 million
Welbeck: 8 goals, half game time, 16 million (+winning goal at OT), homegrown
Not a bad return by any means
That being said he has to work on his finishing and positioning sense
Agree that it is …. and that it still so obviously lacks power up front and dominance at back …. two quality players short of being serious about titles … And no need to spend remotely close to 200m …. 60m will close gap on rivals …
” more often than not , offers end product ” ……!!!!!?????
?????
What have u been smoking over there ?
@liam, 8 goals is so bad of curse, but you are right about that goal against Manure, it feels like a dozen goals emotionally!
Forget Man Utd we are going to beat them this season as well. Their new players will take time to gel together as a team. Lets hope they all turn out like Falcao. GOYG
He could have done better or he could have done worse. It was first season so I think a bit of slack is called for. When Arshavin Gervinho and a young Theo were on the wings we were a soft touch that could produce moments of magic but much too soft all the same. Danny helps solidify us, he along with Ox Theo and Sanchez makes us difficult to play against. Also difficult to defend against.
On a serious note…..
I just don’t see a lot of playing opportunities for Welbeck this season even if Wenger signs no more attackers. If Wenger signs an attacker, Welbecks chances dive even further.
I am not making judgements on Welbeck. But unless we see a major bout of injuries, Welbeck will likely not see much of the pitch this season.
I strongly believe he should/will be given another season at least to show what he can do albeit in a different role to which he wants…he will have ro reinvent himself and learn to play and score from the wings because to be perfectly frank he had more than enough time and games to show he can top strike for us when he first joined and Giroud was out Injured and he was less than impressive goals wise…..
If anyone should go it’s Giroud. He’s already passed his days and Welbeck can still improve. Plus Welbeck is at least 4 years younger than Giroud and can do things Giroud can’t. Altnough he should improve his goal threat, I think Welbeck can deliver in the future.
It is amazing. Sufferers of the Giroud Derangement Syndrome (GDS) will deny reality until the bitter end.
Giroud has proven he is a far better goal producer than Welbeck. Stats prove it. Video of his game play proves it. But sufferers of GDS don’t care about reality. Any chance to attack Giroud supersedes any facts or logic.
We can only hope sufferers of GDS can find help with this devastating psychological condition.
Well, he’s right that there is a lot that Welbeck can do that Giroud can’t. However, because of 3 skills that Giroud is better at, Giroud is a much better player right now. Holding the ball, link up play, and scoring the easy chances the rest of the team gives him. Welbeck will probably never be in the same league as a hold up player, but it really isn’t necessary if the midfield can keep the ball better. He will improve the link up play as he learns to play with this group of players. And the finishing? Well, Giroud isn’t exactly a great goalscorer and is also pretty inconsistent with his shot. Welbeck so far is a consistently poor finisher. He’ll get better, but the better goalscorers tend to score plenty early on even if the rest of their game is raw. I just don’t think he will ever be more than a hot and cold type of striker.
I think Welbeck is going to be best as a winger and will have to go to a smaller team to start as a striker. If he works on crossing and his positioning and runs from the wing, he could potentially start on the wing here, but he is far behind Sanchez, Walcott, and Ox right now.
And I also think Walcott should be leading the line barring any major striker signing, with Sanchez 2nd in line, and Giroud mostly used as a sub early in the second half to harass defenders when they get tired. If Walcott’s form drops, Giroud can come back in occasionally, but I just think the team will be better with Walcott up front.
@greg, its not about future its about now, and you know is better between the 2 you just mentioned. Plus even in the future I bet akpom will make a better striker than dat guy.
This is probably the very essence of grasping at straws. If anything it points to the complete opposite. Wegner is a manager that is KNOWN for his loyalty to players, so why would Giroud and Walcott sign new contracts to play as the back up?
Walcott’s desire to play as CF is well documented, as is his contract situation. It also makes sense Welbeck didn’t sign a new contract seeing as he JUST signed for Arsenal less than a year ago. So how did you come to this conclusion?
Easy big fella. You have just offered a comment filled with facts and logic. Those things are not allowed in transfer rumor season. Please limit your comments to irrational, maniacal fantasies.
What are you talking about!!? If we don’t sign four world-class players in the next hour we’ll probably get relegated!!! Wengeeeeeeeer!!!!!!!
Wenger has never once sold a player after only one season to prove himself as far as I can recall. Unless the player wanted to move. I doubt Welbeck will want to move and I also doubt Arsene will give up so easily. I’m sure Welbz will work hard on his first touch and ball control.
Harris told how we can have 100m to spend if we cared to. Something else he mentioned was that Wenger has already given them a list and on that list is a striker, he didn’t say only a striker as he said players (plural) meaning that Arsene if he can get the ones he wants well then we will be getting more than one new player. Unless the list was given before Cech signing and he along with a striker are the players. I highly doubt that though as he was speaking of what is there to spend right now, and of breaking records.
Win_win situation if it happens, or loan him out in case if he does a sturreg (sp*lling) or a pogba. If not then from their no way back. Even if its permanently no problem though. As far as a better one comes IN.
The headline of this article follows the familiar transfer rumor pattern.
1. Make up a rumor.
2. Identify the rumor in a headline that is a declarative statement followed by a question mark to give the rumor plausible deniability.
FFS just get a world class striker the shirt sales alone will pay for some of his wages.
Sorry as I get older I am becoming more intolerant of people who don’t live up to things. That’s what you get when you are 47 and have supported our great club for 42 years 🙂 🙂
Ah we he 40s people. Hahaha.
Nice to know I’m not alone lol
PS would Welbeck start a game for Chelsea, Man City, Man Utd if all of their players were fit. I have got ambition and players like Welbeck can join Tottenham or Liverpool.
Sorry meant to be thumb up
No worries. I have learn’t not to give a sh-t about thumbs down. We have all got our point of view. You can please some of the people some of the time but you can’t please all of the people all of the time.
Andrew, Welbeck is a versatile sub. There is nothing wrong with having a Welbeck in our squad. He is young, he is British, he plays with heart, and will sit at the bench. That is a good squad player in my book. We will never be able to have 2 Wolrd Class players in every position, Welbeck fulfills a role in this club. Having him come on from the subs bench sure beats what we used to have sitting there.
Most sensible comment on the thread JB. If people really want to go to town on his 8 goals in first season, signed on dead-line day, no pre-season, played centrally for only a small number of games (14 in fact) then they should at least keep it in context; look at the first season or comparable age scoring from some of their other heroes like Kanu, Eduardo, Wiltord, Adebayor and RvP – they certainly were not ripping up trees and played centrally all the time. And what about Ox’s goals from RW/LW – 12 in 4 seasons and over 112 games?
Will he start for us
Welbeck doesn’t even start for us if everyone’s fit, so that’s a bit of an unfair comparison. Compare Welbeck to other teams’ backup strikers and I think he’s reasonably good. Where exactly will Welbeck be in the pecking order next season? Will we have a new first choice striker to push him down to 3rd? Could Walcott be above him too? That would make him 4th choice.
I don’t think we’ll see a lot of Danny Welbeck this season and he’ll probably be sold in the summer, maybe even in January. Seems a shame, he’s a very likeable guy.
No and he won’t start for us if everyone is fit, so what is your point? Every club has players like Danny welbeck, Chelsea have remy, city have jovetic, United have januzai, Liverpool now have loads like him.
Do people want to win the league or just have a world class X1 with nothing in reserve? Welbeck can cover either flank or CF he chips in with a few goals and assists. For me if he can offer 10 goals and create 20 chances whilst playing 30 games that is all we need from him
No. Would Remy, Cuadrado, Jovetic, Navas, Soldado, Falcao or Lambert start a game for us???
Compare apples with apples. Welbeck is not one of our first-choice forwards and input and investment wise, he actually holds up pretty well in comparison to the other equivalent members of the squads you’ve mentioned.
That argument of ‘would this player start for these guys if they’re fully fit’ is pretty daft when he’d be at best a 3rd or 4th choice at striker or wide with us when our squad’s fully fit…
With Jack playing so well for England in the last seven games could we see Jack covering for Ozil if he gets injured. Cazorla is getting older and his best position is going to be along side a CDM.
The one thing a striker needs is `the killer instinct`. No mater how good he is without the killer instinct he`s average. Age doesn`t matter so much, positioning and anticipation will come with game time but he must have no respect for goalkeepers. I remember a sixteen year old putting Arsenal to bed at Highbury so I see no reason why someone like Akpom can`t do the same rotating with Giroud and Walcott in the middle.
Goodnight all it’s late here. Just don’t forget to support our great club in the Emirates Cup.
Yes it is possible Arsenal
will let Wellbeck or Giroud go
if a top attacker is signed.
To make room and to earn cash.
There are 7 games left to asses
possibilities before the window closes.
Overwall the team is
much stwonger than
this time last sea zon.
Cech and Ospina solid dependable.
Szcz on loan will improof him.
An injured Vermaelen replaced by Gabriel.
Bellerin and Debuchy at RB.
Jenkinson playing well for Westham.
Monreal stepping up a level.
Coquelin’s emegence.
Ramsey back fit and firing.
Cazorla and Ozil in top form.
Walcott Ox and Gnabry recovered.
Sanchez added.
Wellbeck 2nd season.
Giroud fit again.
Wilshere fit and in form.
Akpom a year older and better.
Deadwood i.e. Diaby Podolski Ryo gone.
Campbell going, Sanogo out of the way.
Flamini going. Arteta Rosicky staying.
Youngsters Iwobi Zelalem Crowley Bielik Fortune
Adelaide Niles Willock heading a promising youth squad.
Only ten mill spent.
This means with Flamini going Arsenal
are lining up another a defensive midfielder
with Arteta being the 3rd cover.
An attacker is coming no doubt coming too
just whether it be a CF or wing/attacker
is uncertain but someone is coming.
So the Arsenal squad is leaner meaner
more experienced and more potent than last summer
with a DM and attacker still to be added.
I think most of us fans who want the club to win major trophies should lower our expectations just like mohawk and Jim A do so that we can be happy with our current squad especially our world class phenomenal striker. We should expect the club to always finish 4th just like mohawk wants so that we can be satisfied with having some average players as starters.
Akpom should go out on loan where he can play 25-30 games…
staying here, he can only get a handful of games….
Honestly.. If we do sign another top forward I’d like to see Welbeck go on loan.
Still think he can develop into a very handy striker if he can work on his first-touch and finishing. He has great technique, physically superb and a really good work-rate and movement.
The sort of striker who’d be a real asset to a lower-table team and regular time on the pitch could lead to a bit of form and confidence then ultimately, development.
Akpom and/or Welbeck should go on loan to get plenty of matches and experience.
Only sell Welbeck if it means getting a huge wc natural goal scorer
But both Welbeck and Akpom “could” improve into very good forwards