Its time we had a serious chat about our striker situation. by Benedict
Lacazette and Nketiah have scored one single combined goal since the start of the calendar year, a penalty against Leicester. Both players have come under a lot of scrutiny for their lack of firepower in our battle for top four.
Especially since Aubameyang left the club in January (for free) and is currently on fantastic form with 9 goals from 11 games for Barcelona, as well as both Kane and Son are flying for Sp*rs in recent games.
When we compare our squad to our rivals, we distinctly lack quality up top.
Watching Lacazette is frustrating, he goes deep every attack and attempts to link up play from deep, he doesn’t contribute with goals enough at all. Playing this type of striker will not get us Champions League football. That’s the reality of it.
Arteta clearly acknowledged this reality when attempting to sign Vlahovic for £60 million in January, after letting go of our best quality forward who still had 18 months left with the club.
The issue is, there is a lack of top draw strikers and centre forwards available in the market at present. Here are the ones we are linked with.
- Darwin Nunez
- Alexander Isak
- Jonathan David
- Dominic Calvert-Lewin
- Ivan Toney
I will give my opinion on each one and then decide who I would choose to sign if I were Arteta.
Darwin Nunez, the Uruguayan international has played for Benfica for the last two seasons, he is currently the top scorer in the Liga Portugal with 24 goals and three assists, which is a goal every contribution every 68 minutes.
The 22-year-old is a pressing forward who is very fast and can get in behind of a defensive line, additionally he is also tall and physical at six foot one and so is able to finish a lot of chances with his head or by creating his own space.
He is on red-hot form and would be a huge asset at any top club in Europe, he has proved he can perform on the biggest stage (Ajax in Champions League) that he has the quality to be a top player.
Considering the successful integration of Fernandez to the premier league, I think that he would be a fantastic signing at around his £60 million price tag, however Manchester United, Newcastle and Bayern Munich are all interested in the player too so it will be difficult to secure his signature.
Alexander Isak is the most obvious target, we offered around £58 million for the Swedish striker in January but were rejected as Real Sociedad said they will only accept their release clause of £75 million for him.
He is rapid and can play as a centre number nine for us, with excellent box movement.
He does not use his height and strength well though, I do believe that he would be a good counter attacking option but less effective at helping to break down a difficult side.
This season he has only managed five goals compared to 17 the season before so this does make me apprehensive about signing him as he has lacked consistency and we don’t need that around this young Arsenal.
Jonathan David plays as a second striker at Lille, he has found great success dropping off the front line and linking play between midfield and attack as well as creating space and finishing off passing moves.
David is very good at pressing high up the pitch. He gets a lot of interceptions and tackles in the opponents third which is a quality that Arteta loves and makes him an attractive striker.
The 22-year-old Canadian could be a strong option but he may take some time adapting to playing as a lone striker and so may mean that Laca would need a year contract extension to help Davids’ development.
This means no quick fix or instant impact from the striker.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin is proven, he is a technical target man who can drop deep to help interlink play. At still only 24-years-old he could be a great option which would remind me a lot of Giroud.
Having played for England and performed at a very poor Everton, I believe we could poach the player for a decent price, in fact Arsenal are reportedly considered to be in ‘pole position’ to sign DCL in the summer.
Its important to note that he is fantastic in the air and would add a different arial threat from crosses, corners and free kicks, as well as balls straight into the strikers’ feet.
Basically, I think that he would be expensive but a huge upgrade on Laca and do the kind of job he did when first arriving at Arsenal.
Ivan Toney could be a very good backup option this summer at around £35 million from Brentford, a Premier League proven player with 12 goals in his debut season and was the top goals scorer in the championship in 20-21 when he scored 31 goals.
He is a great penalty taker, can cover Lacazette’s role and a natural finisher, at 26-years-old he isn’t the young talent we are looking for but still has the prime years ahead of him and would do well with better service at Arsenal.
Finally, Brentford have a ‘habit’ of selling players when they are on form and would need to generate some cash to re-invest in the team if they want to stay in the Premier League another season so I can see this happening.
CONCLUSION
If I were to choose it would be Darwin Nunez as the main signing as well as a Ivan Toney later in the transfer window if we can afford two. We would need a strong backup for squad depth if we play European football and I do not see Balogun in the first team yet.
However, to save money I might extend Laca for an extra year as a backup striker, as we need to spend on a centre midfielder and right back cover too this summer.
What do you think Gooners?
Benedict