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Following a rather ordinary season, Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger is admittedly in the transfer market in search of some much needed reinforcement to bring his side into title contention.
The previous season, Arsenal were 16 points behind Manchester United and just managed to overcome their bitter rivals Tottenham Hotspurs by the skin of their teeth. Many people have accepted the fact that despite their top 4 finish, the current squad is not capable of challenging the likes of Manchester United and Manchester City for the title.
There is a firm belief amongst the Arsenal supporters that major changes have to be made in order to end their eight year long trophy drought. It seems that Wenger is finally going by what fans demand as Arsenal have already released Arshavin, Denilson and Squillaci who hardly played a game last year and were considered nothing more than dead wood at the North London club. Moreover, Arsenal is prepared to shed some more money off their wage bill, with offers for Bendtner and Gervinho already on table.
This is a pretty clear indication that Arsene Wenger finally acknowledges the lack of quality players in his current squad with Arsenal CEO Ivan Gazidis recently stating that Wenger will be given a bounty of £70million for this transfer window. He also said that they are willing to spend big bucks on well established players and are ready to afford the high wages.
But the question here is “Who should Arsenal buy ?”. Lets look at the players who have been linked with Arsenal till now.
1. Gonzalo Higuain
The Real Madrid player is fed up with his time at the club and has publicly announced his desire to leave following a never ending battle to be in contention for the starting place at the Bernabeu.
Arsenal have been strongly linked with the 25-year-old who scored 18 goals in 44 appearances grabbing eight assists in 2012-13. He is well capable of playing as a lone striker, perfectly suiting Arsenal’s way of playing. Also he is fairly young (25 years), keeping up with Arsene’s transfer policy.
2. Wayne Rooney
The Manchester United man had fallen out with the out going manager Sir Alex Ferguson last season after being played out of position several times and being benched for a couple of key fixtures. Also, he slipped down the pecking order after the arrival of the talismanic Robin Van Persie from Arsenal. He handed in a transfer request before the end of the previous season because of which he was not even included in the squad for the last few fixtures.
Since his announcement, a host of clubs like Arsenal, Chelsea and PSG have shown interest in him with Arsenal being the front runners at the moment. Rooney could be the perfect buy for Arsenal as he is a world class player as well as a proven Premier League performer. He scored 16 goals and grabbed 13 assists in 37 matches last season. This could be the perfect opportunity for Arsenal to get back at United by signing one of their key players, after what United did to Arsenal last season. Also, Rooney will very much be eager to show his former employers that he still has the skills and is one of the best in his position.
3. Júlio César
The former Inter Milan man, who last season joined QPR on a free transfer, is now looking for new club after his current club got relegated from the Premier League and could no longer afford his wages. In spite of the relegation, there are no doubt about his abilities. He has earned a staggering 70 appearances for his national side Brazil and is currently a first choice keeper in the Brazilian national team for the FIFA Confederations Cup.
Arsene Wenger looks very much interested is acquiring this star player. But the question here is if Arsenal need another keeper as they already have the Poland duo of Wojciech Szcz?sny and ?ukasz Fabia?ski. The signing of César will surely hamper the progress of the two players, thereby unsettling them at the club.
4. David Villa
David Villa was the player of the tournament in the FIFA World Cup 2010 in South Africa. Currently, he is contracted to FC Barcelona where he arrived in 2010 from Valencia. But off late, he has grown out of favour following a long injury layoff, with the Barca manager preferring Pedro or Fabregas over him. He is now open to a transfer away from Barcelona with Arsenal more than interested in grabbing his signature, already having a bid rejected in January.
He could be available for as little as 10 million. But it will be interesting to see whether Wenger goes for a player who is 32 years old and arguably past his prime.
5. Marouane Fellaini
The Everton player is open to a transfer this season after his long serving Everton manager David Moyes joined Manchester United this season. He is being linked with a host of clubs including Manchester United, Chelsea and Arsenal with Manchester United having the upper hand in the transfer chase, having newly appointed former Everton manager David Moyes. But rumours are doing rounds that Arsenal have leapfrogged their rivals by activating the release clause in the player’s contract with only personal terms remaining to be agreed. More so there have been rumours that Fellaini himself would prefer a move to Arsenal over Manchester United.
At the age of 25, the Belgium international is a proven Premier League player who will increase the physical presence which the current Arsenal squad lack. He is good at defending as well as confident going forward. He scored 12 goals in 36 appearances for Everton in the past season.
By the look of events that have happened till now, all the possible arrivals and all the departures, this could be the start of the new era for Arsenal having paid off most of their stadium debt.
