Arsene Wenger has wished Jamie Vardy “good luck” after the Englishman agreed on a new contract extension with Leicester City, put an end to a transfer saga which stretched for more than few weeks.
The Gunners activated the striker’s release clause and the Foxes star seemed to be on his way to the Emirates, as the North London club also prepared for his medical.
However some late activity from Leicester, as they offered him a contract extension with big bucks seems to have changed his mind.
He left for Euro’s without a decision and it was quite evident that the move was more or less dead. There were feelers coming in from both clubs that he might stay and that is what it turned out to be.
The Gunners boss confirmed that the North London club were interested in the England striker, but wished him well with Claudio Ranieri’s side. According to the Express, he said:
“I think Leicester have made a statement and Vardy will stay.”
“We were on the case and interested, but not more than that.”
“He has decided to stay at Leicester and good luck to him.”
“He came late to the game and in fairness Leicester bought him from Fleetwood and he has been successful. He is 29 and he has chosen to stay at Leicester. You have to respect that.”
There is real dearth of top-class strikers in the market and it will be very hard for Arsenal to find one unless they are ready to part with some of their cash repositories.
Vardy was one of the better strikers that are available in the market and with Premier League experience; he would have been a great signing. However there have been doubts on how well he will fit into the Gunners fluidic style of play, which was indeed true.
However it’s now time for Wenger and his scouting staff to look for someone else. Recently we have been linked with plenty of names including the likes of Morata, Hernandez, Gotze and Aubamayeng.
Morata has impressed with his performances in the EURO’s but the high asking price and salary demands are a dampener and there are also few questions whether he can be the goal-scorer Arsenal need, if we go by his club goal tallies.
Aubameyang is definitely out of reach and Gotze is not really a striker, although being used there by Germany. Hernandez is definitely an option and has had good goal-scoring records over the past few years. Unless Wenger looks for some North-American or some raw French striker, it’s likely that we will end up with one of the fore-mentioned names.
