Arsene Wenger seems to be trying hard to bring a top striker to Arsenal. A couple of weeks ago, he gave Arsenal the green light to activate Jamie Vardy’s release clause at Leicester. Ever since the England international decided to stay with the English champions, Wenger has not waited a second and a plethora of reports linking Arsenal to some of Europe’s top strikers have poured in ever since.
One such report has come in from The Sun, which claims that Arsene Wenger has actually held talks with Alexandre Lacazette and Romelu Lukaku’s agents,and their clubs, which are Lyon and Everton respectively. Lukaku, who is likely to be the more expensive of the two, might be available for a fee lower than the £65m that Everton are demanding for him.
Lacazette on the other hand still seems to be Wenger’s second choice, and could , according to The Sun’s report is likely to be available for no less than £38m.
Wenger, who wants to add a striker to the Arsenal roaster, is likely to be involved in negotiations with both the players and their agents with the intention of bringing either one of them on board for at least a few more weeks.
Arsenal’s No.9 shirt has been vacant for a while now; literally, from the time Lukas Podolski left for Galatasaray, (and he was as much a centre forward as Mathieu Debuchy is a central defender). The No. 9 position on the other hand, has been occupied largely by Olivier Giroud, a player who continues to ignite much debate among Arsenal fans. In spite his all round awareness, dedication and work rate, it can be said with some conviction that the Frenchman ,at the very best, only features on the outskirts of the ‘world class’ territory that Gooners around the world want Wenger to exploit. However this world class bracket that has been consists of players who are unlikely to leave their clubs. ( Suarez, Lewandowski, Aguero, Aubemayang). Even if they were it is unlikely that they would come to Arsenal.
Wenger has therefore dipped into a territory of strikers that lies immediately below the one mentioned above. How much is Lukaku and upgrade over Giroud? Or for that matter, Lacazette?
There are doubts over Lacazette’s current evaluation and his actual quality, and whether he is in actual fact substantially better than Giroud. Yes, the promising striker has scored 72 times in 173 games for Lyon, while Giroud stands at 57 in 135.
Lukaku on the other hand, is a prolific goal scorer, having bagged 28 goals in 73 games for Everton, with a higher chances created to goal ratio than Giroud in the premier league. The Belgian is fast, powerful and intelligent on the counter. He would in many ways offer Arsenal a much needed combination of strength speed and intelligence in games that are more direct and games played at a high tempo.
At this moment, let’s all ‘Luk’ on the brighter side. Let’s keep our fingers crossed. It is clear now that the boss is trying to bring on one of these players, and who knows? He just might!!
