The Gunners came away with a impressive 5-0 win in their hands at the weekend, after beating a weakened Southampton side in the FA Cup. It was a match that showed just how many attacking options Arsene Wenger has to pick from when he has a fully fit side; and it’s sure to be a selection headache he won’t mind having.
Despite the strong performances from our players up top, the question does still remain as to whether we need to strengthen offensively with a world class striker. The Gunners come up against Premier League leaders Chelsea at the weekend, whom are showing real strength up top in consistently winning games. The Blues are currently eight points clear in the league and one of the reasons for the gap is because they haven’t been shy on the goalscoring front. Now the Gunners haven’t exactly been short of goals either this season, but one pundit, coach and former player all rolled into one, suggests that had Wenger stuck a big bid in for a world class striker, then perhaps the Gunners would be the ones in the better position in the league.
It’s former Chelsea man Ray Wilkins who is having his say on the Gunners today. This isn’t the first time Wilkins has spoken about Arsenal in the press and his current argument stands on Wenger’s disappointments when it comes to signing a world class striker.
Wilkins argued: “Higuain scored 30-plus goals in Italian football per annum. He would have been the guy I’d have bought if I was Arsene Wenger. I’d have paid £50m for him.”
Wilkins’ comments clearly relate to the Gunners title push last season, in which a dramatic final day saw us finish as runners up instead of Tottenham. But of course second place isn’t good enough when we all want to be winners and perhaps a world class striker would’ve been the answer to our concerns. This is an argument that still runs today and is very relevant to this season as well.
A serious bid of Gonzalo Higuain may have been the answer last season, or perhaps even last summer before he broke the domestic Italian transfer record with his move to Juventus. But focusing more on the current times, which players could Arsenal seriously be eyeing up if it means that a title push is on the cards?
With the January transfer window soon coming to a close, I think it’s safe to rule out any more major transfers for the Gunners, but do the Gunners really need to invest into another big money player, in order to win the Premier League?
The likes of Reus, Morata, Lacazette and of course Greizmann have all been linked with a move to the Gunners this year and they would all cost an extortionate amount of money to bring them to the club. But despite the strong efforts that Alexis Sanchez has put in up front and the performances from the likes of Giroud, Welbeck and Perez, I still think a major talent up front would be the missing piece to the jigsaw, especially when it comes to our chances of winning the league again!
Do you agree with Wilkins or are you happy with the strikers we already have?
By AH