Arsene Wenger had some words of encouragement today for the Arsenal fans that are desperately waiting for the Frenchman to pull his finger out and spend some money in the summer transfer window. The manager suggested that there may well still be a few arrivals and that the signing of Petr Cech did not spell the end of his work on the transfer side of things.
But while many football experts and fans expect one of those new players to be of the centre forward variety, a report in the Daily Mail explains why that might not be happening.
The paper reveals that Wenger is planning to introduce our young English striker Chuba Akpom into the first team in the coming season. The boss has a lot of faith in the 19-year old and when you consider that the great Alexis Sanchez nicknamed him Titi because of his similarity to our club record goalscorer Thierry Henry, it could be a very exciting season for the young Gunner.
Akpom made seven appearances as a sub with the first team last season, after smashing nine goals in just 11 under 21 games. He is strong, fast and can finish and with Wenger preferring him to Benik Afobe, Joel Campbell and Yaya Sanogo, is this the player that will prove to be the biggest challenger to Olivier Giroud for the centre forward position?
With Wenger already having the options of Welbeck, Walcott, Giroud and Alexis Sanchez, if Akpom can impress during the Barclays Asia trophy and the Emirates cup, do Arsenal really need to sign another striker?