Many Arsenal fans and people connected with the club, including our all time top scorer Thierry Henry, believe that Arsene Wenger needs to sign another centre forward in the upcoming summer transfer window. But while we would all love to get an Aguero or a Messi, there are not too many about and there are clubs willing to outbid us for them.
One player that has not really been linked with us recently is the Aston Villa and Belgium striker Christian Benteke and I find that a bit strange. He may have struggled at times this season under Paul Lambert but has found his shooting boots again under Tim Sherwood, banging in 11 goals from 12 games and steering Villa to a meeting with Arsenal in the FA cup final.
There are plenty of rumours talking about Benteke and a possible move this summer, with clubs like Chelsea, Liverpool and Man United said to be interested, but as reported by The Mirror, the 24-year old has let it be known that he will not make any decisions on his future until after the two international games Belgium will play at the end of the season.
With two years left on his contract, Villa want around £30 million for Benteke and that seems pretty reasonable and I can understand him wanting to further his career, but I wonder if he is putting off our Premier League rivals in the hope of the Gunners joining the race.
Remember that Benteke revealed his love for Arsenal and his desire to play for us a few short months after becoming a Villa player back in 2012 in a Sky Sports report and I cannot see why that would have changed.
He said, “I am not afraid of making enemies at Aston Villa by saying I lov eArsenal. There are worse things one can say.
“I am a Villa player for now. They are the right club at the right time for me. I have fulfilled a dream by playing in the Premier League. Now it is about staying as long as possible.
“Villa are the beginning of my career in England. I have not just joined any club – although I didn’t know their full history, I knew they’d played in the Champions League and won plenty of titles and cups.
“Arsenal are the club I love. I like their philosophy of selecting young players and, besides, they had Thierry Henry in their team.
“For me, he is the best player in the world and he was my boyhood idol.”
So should Wenger give this talented striker his dream chance of playing for Arsenal? I say YES!