Rumours are circling that Arsenal have made an offer to sign Gonzalo Higuain in a cash-plus-player deal involving Olivier Giroud.
The Frenchman played a key role in helping his country’s football team to reach the final of Euro 2016 this month, but has been under intense scrutiny for his club form in recent terms.
Giroud is far from a club-favourite at the Emirates club, despite showing a number of signs that he is improving year upon year.
The 29 year-old scored 24 goals in all competitions this term, his highest tally in our famous red shirt, but having gone on a barren run in early 2016, was at the centre of criticism for fans as the club’s title challenge faded painfully.
The fact of the matter is however, that his form only dipped while he had no rival to challenge for the role, with Theo Walcott and Danny Welbeck sidelined or out of sorts, and in my honest opinion, I believe he was overused and tired out when he actually needed to be used sparingly. After a break, he ended up finishing the season well, and then came painfully close to becoming a European champion with France this summer.
Our club have actively been on the look-out for a player to challenge the former Montpellier striker for a first-team role at the Emirates for the upcoming season, but having failed in bids to land a number of targets, are now claimed to be willing to offload Giroud in order to strengthen.
£40 Million and this season’s top goalscorer is said to have been offered to Napoli for the services of Gonzalo Higuain, who in turn has had a hugely successful goalscoring campaign in Italy.
The Argentine also lost in the final with his country this summer, losing out to Alexis Sanchez’s Chile side in the Copa America tournament, but having scored a huge 36 league goals in 35 outings this term, there is little wonder as to why Arsene Wenger would be willing to move the star.
Napoli do play with a very attacking style, while the Gunners play a more possession-based style, and his current side also play with a very attacking front three, compared to our one. Higuain has also never played in the Premier League, which is also a worrying factor when investing serious amounts in a forward.
Giroud is a steady, and consistent striker regardless of his barren run which I have already excused. There is no doubt that we need to bring in a striker, but I cant help but think that signing Gonzo at the expense of our current solid option is a huge risk, and one I would not actually make.
I’m sure many of you disagree, as I know Giroud has many doubters, but I would rather see Higuain’s full £70+ Million asking price met in full, than see this sort of swap deal happen. Am I alone in this?
you are not alone.
Why not swap Theo instead plus top up for Higuani then keep OG. Its a win win for both parties.
Higuani, Giroud, Welbeck, Akpom for ST.
I have serous doubts and for good reason that this deal will pull through as Napoli’s evaluation is too high plus Arsenal may not even be interested in the player and its just the media doing what they do best (playing with our emotions).
@007…
That’s a very brilliant idea….but am afraid there will be a problem, as Napoli may not want Walcott….
As much as many slate and underrate Giroud,he is by far better than Walcott..so getting Walcott will not be a good business for Napoli…
I AGREE. Send them Theo
Theo already earns £140,000 per week
We can free up that money for Higuain and keep Giroud as a SuperSub/backup
If we lose Giroud, we will most definitely need another forward of some kind like winger like Draxler or a good quality striker
Arsenal girl, sorry to nitpick but Theo is paid £140k per week, I do not think he earns it.
There is a problem selling walcott, he is overpaid even by PL standards. For him to move he has to agree personal terms with the buying club, either he accepts a wage cut or arsenal accept a very much reduced transfer fee. It is the Bentdner problem again.
At the time walcott signed his last contract he was playing well and looking to fulfill his potential. However arsenal made the mistake of letting a player they wanted to keep enter the last year of his contract without agreeing a new contract. He should have been sold the previous summer and it would have been easier for him to agree terms with new club as he was then on a lower wage at arsenal.
When I saw the rumour yesterday,my mind just disagreed instantly, we need two strikers…
What if Higuain gets injured,drops form or he is not clicking as fast as we want, he needs someone to back him up.
If we swap Giroud for him,IMO we have not really STRENGHTENED the team…
Higuain becomes our only no.9 and it will be good enough!
Oh! I meant to say,if Higuain becomes our only 9 it won’t be good enough!
And I would add that, even if we have Welbeck fit right now,we still need a striker, and now that Welbeck is out for next season, we need TWO attackers; a striker and a winger like Alexis,Mahrez will be fine….
So if we have only Higuain,we would need a special luck for Higuain to;
1)Hit the ground running immediately…and
2)Cope with all the EPL rigours and no holidays and still last throughout the competitons without getting injured, fatigued,or drop form…
It is possible though, Look at Costa, didn’t know the league, Not fased or bullied by the pace of our game but you are right! a one for one replacement isn’t a good idea for us right now
well maybe i wanted higuain gew seasons ago when he was claimed to be spotted at Heathrow airport!
Well maybe not anymore…. And certainly not a swap deal….with giroud………….. Is that strengthening? Or Replacement?…. Okay i dn’t really like Giroud been the no1 striker, deosn’t mean he can’t play backup or double pivot role with a proper striker with a different attribute
got a problem with Higuain’s age and quick adaptability to a new league(no time for late blooming)….not his resale value (china may come calling) but his durability and retrogression when he passes the 30yrs mark!
A younger , powerful striker within the 22-27yr old mark should be what we are looking for!
He’s already in full bloom mate….
Lacazette is the striker you are talking about in my opinion.
Why would we pay £40M plus an in-form Giroud for a 28 year old Higuan when we couldn’t even add £5M and pay the full £35M for a 25 year old Higuan? Come on admin you know it and we all know it..as long as Wenger walks on the Arsenal FC premises, Giroud is going nowhere and Higuan is not joining Arsenal..
It is absolutely crazy. I rate Higuain very very highly, but no sell on value, and we are talking about record amounts?.
That new tv money has made things even worse, I thought it was bad before. I wonder if when mid table German clubs deal with mid table Spanish clubs are they going to be like this, or are they going to be fair about it. So far it seems to be the English clubs getting huge numbers thrown at them. Also anyone with a decent striker is holding onto them like they are his daughters.
We could always sale Higuani at 35 to China Trevor, heeeeehe.
Just messing with you, or am I.
Your right of course, never thought about that one.
I thought we wasn’t a selling club anymore? ? ?
You want to be able to sell a player before we even sign him ?
The reason for buying a world class Striker is to win a major trophy!…. The Wenger bug has definitely got to you mate, especially if your view for not buying Higuain is purely based on no sell on value.
There’s a lot of confused fan’s out here, trying to understand Wenger’s ways have clearly left a side effect on you guys. ?
It doesn’t mean we are a selling club, resale value comes up If the player isn’t good enough and we ‘want'(Willingly) to sell him…
Like some players we sold after they didn’t work out…gervinho,Santos to name but two
Higuain is a risk at anything over £45-50million cash. Unproven in EPL, getting a bit older and would he fit our playing style.
If (big if I know) Giroud can put together one complete season (without injury) from his best half seasons, he could score 20+ goals for a couple of years.
For the above reasons, I am calling foul on this rumour of Giroud plus cash. We could do very well with another orthodox striker to challenge Giroud, but one that doesn’t break the bank..
We need better finisher than Giroud. But I agree we should keep him as back up.
Gonzalo Higuain won’t be cheap but he is the best option on the market left. With his 36 goals he made himself as the highest goal scorer (in one season) in the history of Serie A. He did that at 28 years old not at 25. Age means nothing here.
We just heard that he had 100M Euros buy out clause, but then Napoli came him with more reasonable price at 70M Euros (about 50M pounds). With 10M pounds difference, AW should take their offer and we still can keep Giroud. Our goal scoring problem solve.
If it’s the only viable option well than we would have to take the leap. We know we can’t win it with Giroud, so we’d have to see if we can win it with Higuain. It’s not the only viable option though, because there are other strikers, or we could meet the buy out. Would we get a player as good as higuain from looking elsewhere, doubtful. So you have to ask? is it worth sacrificing Giroud to get in a proper goal scorer. Or would you prefer we looked elsewhere and eded up with two fine players but not in Higuain class.
If Higuain ever came to Arsenal he would be on the bench while Giroud starts every game.
And So Wenger quits Henry for punditry (for sky)…… But see’s nothing wrong with himself being a pundit for a french Tv (him, desally and pires) while still being Arsenal manager…
.
He thinks he’s clean right?
he’s forgetting something…. “Karma”!
Read goal.com’s take on it. They were the first site where I seen someone speak sense on the matter. You don’t have to agree, but it is better to hear a few different takes.
Anyways, I thought Henry wanted to become a manager one day. Looks like he wants his reputation to do the work for him.
He hasn’t got all his coaching badges yet and it looks like he could be heading to west ham or Watford to complete them. As for one letting their reputation do all the work for them? … Cough … Wenger has been getting away with that for the last decade! ? The difference is, at least Henry was being unbiased and honest with his comments during his Tv work. ?
I know that you know that we all know that Wenger in his right sense will never do a cash plus player deal not even if it’s Higuian.
Sanogo and 10p for Higuain ?
I reckon Wenger would take
a good hard look at it 🙂
With all these high prices been thrown around for strikers these days, I wouldn’t rule out the possibility of Wenger getting Jesse on loan with an option to buy.
If we are to go by rumors with R Madrid turning down all offers for Morata, they could be stoked with forwards (not strikers but forwards.)
– Benzema – ST
– Morata – ST
– CR7 – Across the line
– Bale – Across the line
– Lucas Vasquez – RW or sometimes as 2nd striker
– James Rodriguez – at number 10 or on the wings
– Jesse – RW or sometimes ST
Something has got to give for Real, I see one or two of those players been shipped out and my guess would be either Jesse and/ or James. Of course we would be prized out of James plus we don’t really need him so Jesse it is.
Of course I could be as clueless as Wenger, but lets watch the space.
Arsenal is not desperate for a striker.
Giroud Walcott Sanogo Sanchez
Cazorla Wilshere Ozil Xhaka Iwobi
Ramsey Chamberlain Elneny Akpom
Adelaide and Wellbeck (Feb) can all score and create goals
Higuain is 29 in December so 80 mill is madness.
He will be down to 50 mill in a month. Offer Giroud or Walcott and 30 mill.
I believe Wenger want’s some one younger, Morata and Lukaku fit the bill.
Again offer Giroud or Walcott and 30 mill.
If Napoli Everton and Madrid say no then just use who we have.
Its already been reported that Akpom won’t be going out on loan this season, well … at least until January and even though most fans are judging this young striker based on his Hull loan form, you seem to forget that Hull don’t have the likes of Ozil ?
If wenger fails to sign a decent striker, all our hopes will be resting on the likes of Akpom, sanogo and Walcott.
Sad times, waiting in anticipation ?and It’s funny how most fans are now Giroud fan’s lol ? man, you all need psychiatric help! ?Even iwobi one Kenobi would score more than Giroud if played in his position. Anyways, I’m hoping that the young Guns and Walcott will all shine this season and Wenger’s smug smile will say it all.
I really think some people see this like FIFA16…buy a top player and he performs amazingly and we all live happily ever after..
It’s not like that, sadly.
IF IF IF we buy Higuain for anything over £45-50million (remember he only has 2 years left on his contract and is aged 28yrs and 6months) that would NOT be good value.
Napoli are completely taking the piss valuing him at £80+million, but he is their player and they can do that if they wish.
What we cannot do is pay over the odds for a player who is rapidly ageing, 3yrs into his contract and unproven in the EPL. That would be utter madness outside of FIFA16.
So I repeat my earlier comment that we would be best served signing a partner to Giroud for rotation and maybe in a 4-4-2 occasionally.
I can’t believe I’m siding with our miserly manager, but common sense has to prevail!!
Siding? … But it is Wenger, who wants Higuain! ??
He has arranged a meeting for next Thursday, but since that news is a few days old that could mean tomorrow ?
Just remember that wenger is the master of bluffs and blagging! ?? (aswell as many other things! that can’t be printed on here!) He has also mastered the art of signings without signing ? Go Check Out his nearly signed list! ?
Fellow Gunners 40mil plus Giroud for Higuain is a risk, wenger can buy Benteke for 30mil and keep Giroud bcus both of them can do a good job for us
Benteke would be a viable adversary; just as powerful, but quicker of the mark then giroud even though giroud still has more to offer, them together would reckoning.
I disagree wholeheartedly… I think it’s more the Fifa career moders who are the ones who act like every player declines rapidly once he hits 30 and they should be avoided more the closer they get to that magical age…
Funnily enough that Ronaldo guy is still going pretty strong at 31…
That 28 years old Higuain is now the holder of Serie A top score of all times with his 36 goals last season. You see, it’s not just the matter of ages. We need better finisher than Olivier Giroud. Higuian has it all.
That Ronaldo guy isn’t your average 31 year old footballer ? He looks after himself, he is always training to develop and improve his physical and technical ability.
His Hunger and self motivation will probably see him still playing top flight football, well into his mid or late 30’s.
giroud is not a pacy footballer; he certainly proved that the euro 2016 but his positioning is great not to mention holding up the ball. he is under scrutiny because of the overall short comings of arsenal period, harry Kane: consistent for spurs in the league with spurs in succession, not so much with the international team as where giroud has decided to go the other way with a better goal ratio like most of his team mates. Manchester city strikers have evaporated like water poured on a desert. aguero, dzeko, iheanacho in my opinion is second choice, nolito that inhibits bony period, negredo who is in talks with Middlesbrough, jovetic and finally tevez essentially on-par with aquero. get another striker but the finishing and pace is not an easy combination to find and not always affective in the premier league
I don’t see the reason why Wenger should do swap deals or force Giroud to leave!!!
JUST BUY the g.d d..mn super striker Wenger!
This would be stupid. Giroud is a useful bench player and is a handful for the opposition defence. We need to buy a striker outright and sell theo at a reduced rate if necessary. Could always sell cheap and insert a buy back clause just in case he suddenly works out how to be a striker, goodness knows he’s got the tools to be one. Other options sell Campbell or welbeck when he’s fit again. Preferred option would be to sell theo only.
Buying any player is a risk. We can all think of players who have moved and it has not worked out, if it involves moving leagues then even bigger risk. Look at falcao to united.
Giroud should stay until a suitable attacking force is in place and proven to work. Swapping giroud plus a lot of cash for higuan is too big a risk.
Yupe. AW offer 40M pounds, Napoli tagged him at 50M. Just pay the damn 10M extra and we can keep Giroud as back up.
Giroud in my opinion has been very poor in all his matches for France in the UEFA Euro. In all his matches he struggle to get his self in any good position to have shots on goal most of his play have been one touch football which comes to nothing, his best and only option of scoring looks to be headers from corners and free kicks deliverd in the box. I was also suprise Mr Deschamp decided to play Olivier Girould ahead of Coman and Martial.
I personally believe Walcott can have a good season this year and when Welbeck comes back he can also perform well. Looking at Giroud overall game I can see him struggling this season. In terms of price wages and suitability Balotelli be would Arsenal best buy, he got all the credentials Arsenal need pace, good dribbling skills, strong on the ball, hold up play, decent finisher and he could also drift and play on both left and right wing which would incorporate Walcott and Sanchez game.
Mr Wenger being a serious and intellegent man, with excellent man mangement skills and eloquent speaker is the ideal manager to transform Balotelli into a world class striker. Higuain is too expensive despite being a limited striker who only gives you goals and nothing else.
Thats a lovely thought but Wenger is known for letting his players find their own way and not giving them too much in the way of coaching barring Steve Bould grabbing them round the throat when they go too far!
I’d rather us buy Lukaku outright then lose Giroud in a swap deal. At least he’s PL proven
*in a swap deal for Higuain that is