Wenger reveals Arsenal striker transfer plans

It has been a matter of some conjecture and speculation among Arsenal fans and the football world in general, a little bit like a Royal birth in a way, because everyone knows what is going to happen but they still check the news and are surprised when confirmation comes in, what Arsenal Football Club are planning to do on the striker situation.

The January transfer window is open did you know? Does Arsene Wenger know more’s to the point? I have seen some rumours about a midfielder and a work permit and all I can say about that is I hope we have done our homework because I for one have never heard of the Geezer.

Back to the strikers though, and it looks like Joel Campbell has convinced Wenger that he is good enough to stop Arsenal having to sign another striker this month. There were reports, like this on The Express, about a the club offering the Costa Rican a new contract, and that was before the forward played a blinder in the FA cup.

Following his performance and goal against Sunderland, the Arsenal boss was fulsome in his praise of Campbell, as reported by the Arsenal website, and suggested that he was this season’s version of the currently injured midfield warrior Francis Coquelin.

Wenger said, “He is kind of in Coquelin’s position last year. Nobody expected him [to do well] and now he is taking his place in the team and he is ready to fight for the position and he is efficient.

“I agree [that he is playing with confidence]. That comes out of his game. Compare one month ago to today, he believes he belongs there and has a right to play.”

I agree that Campbell has done very well but maybe not with the same impact as Coquelin had. But I think the Frenchman has decided that one transfer he does not need to make this month is a striker. Is he right?

Tags Campbell Coquelin

21 Comments

  1. We haven’t really had an issue in the striker position this year because Walcott did OK and even without Sanchez we have continued to do well.

    I think the striker issue is a hangover from last summer as it doesn’t really exist. The only way to make it better is to buy someone much better than Giroud – and that will never really happen in January.

    1. I am of the opinion that getting a new striker might not be a good idea, considering that we already have 3 strikers in Giroud, Walcott & Welbeck. If we get another striker, then one of the trio has to go, otherwise getting a 4th striker will create too much competition that would definately hamper their development.

      So the question is who would we get rid of? Giroud is unique – has great physical presence, excellent hold up play, good work ethic, excellent passing skills & movement. he offers a whole different dimension in arsenal attacking tactics. He’s very useful against teams that like to sit back and park the bus. might be difficult to get someone who can do what Giroud does.
      Walcott, well we’ve seen how dangerous he is when playing upfront especially against teams that like to press and attack. His pace is unbelievable, I dont think we wanna get rid of that.

      This leaves Welbeck, he’s still young, and to be honest, there’s nothing much to judge him on as he didn’t even have a full first season. He did have regular appearances after his arrival, but that was a difficult period as he didn’t have proper creativity behind him with ozil and ramsey struggling with injuries during that period. So I am curious to see how he well perform with Ozil in the form of his life. If he turns out ok then we might not need to buy a another striker for some time.

    2. We used ro have one Wenger, now we have too many.
      World Class Striker have it’s own definition such:
      1. Season goals in the league in excess of 20, and in all competition 30.
      2. Chance vs Goal ratio much higher than our strikers.
      3. Scoring the crunch time and be a game changer, like Suarez in Liverpool, and Aguero in MC.
      4. Create goal chances and decent number of assists. None of our striker have that.
      Besides, like 2 season ago we have a perfect opportunity to win EPL not because we are that great, simply because Chelsea, MU, MC, Liverpool are not doing well and consistent. In that season we were on the top for 120 days, and we faltered on Dec. 26, when Ramsey got injured and coolies crumbled with others. January 2014 came and gone without any improvement in the team, and we ended up 3rd!! Why? I remember Wayne Rooney said at that time Arsenal would go down in January onward, and hated him for that, but he was right, Arsenal injuries mounted no back up plan, and Wenger went for a charity trip to Vatican asking God to help Arsenal.
      Now this season. We have perfect and unique chance to win it after 12 years, and I am sure he will do the same, and as you all naively suggesting Midfielders, and Wingers like Sanchez, and Campbell will do both job of DMF, and Striker.
      We all shall knocking to his door begging him please don’t take this chance from us, and buy not only a Striker better than Giroud, also a DMF.

  2. Lol @ never heard of the Geezer. That’s about right. I’m guessing 90% of us here share the same opinion. I’d love for us to get a new striker but midfield is probably the priority. If anything, I for one wish we’d address the Defence instead. Gabriel seems a real prospect and I’d take him over Per any day. God bless him but Per simply slows the game down way too much for anyone’s liking with his sideways passing style. Case in point, the Sunderland game was played at a much higher tempo than the Newcastle game. But that’s beside the point. A striker would be brilliant thank you, but with Barca coming up, a top class CB should be more the concern, yes?

  3. Pure desperation Bob! ???

    This site is starting to get a bit buggy in more ways than one!
    There’s now adverts on here that are hijacking me away to their site!… wtf! ?

  4. Campbell should not be the reason to stop Arsenal from securing a WC striker. The reasons may include:

    – Giroud – blows hot and cold plus his 30. His a good player to have and fights but he sometimes lucks that extra spark (to win a game when others are being average (more like the impact Ramsey hard when he came on or Suarez at Lpool)).

    – Theo – is also inconsistent and seems to only know how to play one way. Injuries are also usually associated with him so you cant bank on him to finish a season.

    – Welbeck – is injury prone from his days at Man U, his a good option to have and can play in different positions therefore he does not affect the central striker position too much.

    – Campbell- and Sanchez are better deployed on the wings. There overall game and style of play would be highly restricted in the certain forward role. They thrive in space and help out in recovering the ball too. I wouldn’t want to lose that.

    To me this means there is room for one more striker and not just anybody but a WC striker as the average Joe’s slots are already filled in (hell I didn’t even list Sanogo or Akpom, says it all).

      1. My points were not only meant for this window but in the summer too.

        Speaking from past experience including last summer when some strikers could have moved Wenger decided not to bring in anyone (even if things were happening in the background no WC striker has come out to say Arsenal tried to sign me in the summer which they usually do).

        Clubs will never come out to say our WC striker is available or we are willing to sell, its up to the other club to show ambition that they really want that player and are willing to pay. Even Messi is available if you are willing to pay 500 bucks.

  5. I don’t see the point going on about the striker issue, flogging a dead horse in my opinion…if we did not get a striker in the summer why will any rational person think we will get one now? Wenger said the trio of Walcott, Giroud and Welbeck are good enough to win us the title and so far he is been proven right, so let us just support what we have and stop dreaming about what we can’t have….my only grouse is the fact that if this experiment fails and we end up not winning the title Wenger will still not be held accountable for his bold gamble

  6. Striker! Striker! Everytime..God! Aren’t you tired of all the talk about buying a striker for God sake?
    Wenger rightly said he wouldn’t buy just for the sake of buying buh only quality
    In the summer, we couldn’t get a quality striker,what makes you think we will get it now ehn??
    Football is a team sport, if we defend very well away from home, we are a good counter attacking team, we will always scoren enough with all these striker talk pls..its boring.

  7. A lot of people are just so scared its funny…
    They think buying Aubameyang means we will surely win the title..hmm..that’s a juvenile thinking…
    Spurs have only Kane, ManU, have misfiring strikers, City trust only Aguero, Liverpool????Leicester..Vardy and Mahrez…
    Arsenal have Giroud,walcott, Sanchez, Ozil even Campbell, plus maybe Ozil and anyone can score at anytime.welbeck is on his way back.so what is the fear all about…Even Dortmund have only Auba..we have been saying we want different goalscorers, we have that now and some are still complaining..

    1. Very good point. I think though that most fans want a world class striker, I like Giroud and he is getting better and now scoring against top teams but he is not quite world class. Having said that, it is better to have a number of goal scorers than be reliant on one WC striker. To have a number of goal scorers and a WC striker is best, unless you are greedy like Barcelona and have three WC strikers.

    1. Only problem is that this site is getting like some of the media. Title is completely misleading or “click bait”. This article is an example, wenger has not revealed Arsenal striker plans.

  8. We’ll only get a new striker in the summer if Giroud happens to leave, and I really can’t imagine that. No idea why so many people want a new body on that position as we seem to do really well in most games in the final third. Just need that extra body on the DM position and we’re set.

  9. “I for one have never heard of the Geezer.”
    I never heard of Koscieliny before Wenger got him.
    I never heard of Ljungberg before Wenger got him.

    Wenger has had plenty of players that you have never heard about and they have turned out to be some great players, lets not caste doubting eyes at a potential new signing before it even happens.

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