Much of the discussion this past season has been about whether Olivier Giroud is the right man to lead our title charge. Thierry Henry has voiced his opinions recently, stating that he believes we need more goals upfront and this opinion was not restricted to the Frenchman alone, as former players like Martin Keown and Ian Wright have reiterated the same.
Even in recent interviews some of the first team players have brought to light the fact that even though everyone values Giroud’s qualities immensely and any new signings in that position would be an added bonus to an already capable squad.
It’s a no-brainer really, Giroud is a very good target man, but he will never be as prolific as a Sergio Aguero or Diego Costa. His lack of that extra yard of pace is always going to restrict him to being a reactive striker as opposed to being a proactive one. There is no question that he has his strengths and he is the best in what he does, but we do need someone else who will compete against the Frenchman which might push his performances in the right direction.
His positional sense, runs towards the near post and his aerial ability are hugely important attributes, specially with respect to how we tend to play nowadays, but we still need another 25 goal guy upfront who can share the load with him while also providing a different dimension to our attack.
In terms of numbers too, with Lukas Podolski and Joel Campbell set to leave the club, and Danny Welbeck still looking to establish a foothold in the side, it is perhaps the best time to make a third marquee signing in three summers and sending a strong signal of intent even before the season began..
The possibility of that happening looks quite minute at this point of time as a new striker will definitely impact the Walcott’s contract talks and Wenger will have a big decision to make. Let’s see how this pans out.
Till next time….
