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Arsenal are still sitting comfortably on top of the Premier League table and with Manchester City and Chelsea to play in December, Arsenal could find themselves surging ahead of the competition or holding on to a very fragile lead come the opening fixture of 2014 against Saturday’s defeated opponents Cardiff City.
Whatever hand Arsenal are dealt they have already proven this season that they have the ability to cope with it. However, it is pretty much a given that Arsenal need to insure themselves against Giroud injury or burnout with an additional striker in the January window. Here are some of the rumoured targets:
The Good, The Bad and The Ugly
Good: Alexandre Pato
Former wonder-kid and AC Milan star Pato is rumoured to be the subject of a failed €8m bid today with current club Corinthians holding out for €12m. Pato would represent value for money in a window that usually has little to offer.
Despite a less than impressive career with Corinthians so far, blighted by below par performances and accusations of a lack of effort, Pato has proven European pedigree, undoubted technical ability and comes with a comfortable price tag. If anyone can get this players star to shine bright once again it’s Arsène Wenger and Pato’s reputation would see at least a return on investment if Alexandre struggles to adapt and Arsenal wish to sell. For €12m he is certainly worth a punt.
Bad: Karim Benzema
Benzema has 10 goals and 7 assists in 18 appearances already this season but rumours persist to link the Frenchman with a January transfer away from the Santiago Bernabeu. Some are accusing Los Blancos manager, Carlo Ancelotti, of slowly pushing Karim out of the team and if Benzema and his camp have a real concern about this you can expect to see a concerted effort to get a move out with the World Cup only 7 months away.
Whilst it may seem appealing to Gunners to have both French national team strikers at once, Wenger has been quoted as calling it a bad idea. It wouldn’t be good for squad harmony to have an acrimonious rivalry for a club spot as whoever wins is nailed on to be France’s starting striker in Brazil.
After spending the summer moving players on and Arsenal having a distinct lack of negative influences in their dressing room it would be strange to see Wenger spend the best part of £35m to thicken the air at the Emirates.
Ugly: Loic Remy
Many Gooners, and pundits, went verbal with their miff at Arsenal passing up the opportunity to sign Remy for a song from QPR in the summer. The whole scenario that has been rumoured seems extremely messy but a situation has been mooted where QPR recall Remy in January and sell him to another Premier League team over Newcastle.
It’s not clear if this is even possible for a variety of reasons such as recall clauses, first-options or even Remy being registered with 3 different clubs in the same season but if it was possible it would be an extremely ugly affair. £10m could be enough to capture Remy’s signature in such a situation but despite the fact Arsenal would benefit from a pacy, powerful stiker like Loic as an alternative to Giroud, Arsenal are far too classy to get involved in such a macbre affair.
The Unlikely and The Even Less Likely
Javier Hernandez of Manchester United is a player many would love to see lining up for Arsenal. The man dubbed “Little Pea” would be an excellent signing for Arsenal, bringing much needed pace and killer instinct in front of goal to Arsenal but it would have to be a cold day in hell to see Manchester United sell a first-team player to Arsenal. Manchester United would never let go of an asset, no matter how under-used they are, and strengthen a title-rival especially when that rival is 9 points clear of them and that asset is exactly the position they need to maintain their title assault.
Demba Ba is a player Arsenal have looked at on many occasions and is even less likely to join that Hernandez. Jose Mourinho, despite saying he would when chasing Wayne Rooney, does not sell to title-rivals. Arsenal’s only chance of getting Ba would be for Chelsea to lose every game in December and for Mourinho to get the sack before the window closes. We can dream. (More about Jose getting sacked then Arsenal signing Ba!)
The Dream Signings
After the infamous +£1 bid for Luis Suarez in the summer it is even less likely that Liverpool would consider selling their prized asset to Arsenal. It was always an outside bet that Arsenal would capture Suarez but the infinitesimal chance that Arsenal had at the time evaporated with that extra £1. Whatever the reasons were for that are irrelevant now but Liverpool clearly took it as an insulting offer from a club overly cocky that they would get their man and have said as much since the news broke.
Come January Arsenal would be able to sign Robert Lewandowski on a pre-contract agreement but might be able to tempt BVB to part with their star striker with a sizeable offer. Lewandowski dismissed rumours that he has already agreed to sign for Bayern, stating he hadn’t made a decision, and if Arsenal can get into the pre-contract mix then parting with good money for a striker of that quality, albeit cup-tied in the Champions League, is surely something Arsenal will consider. Seems a no-brainer from here though.
The Nostalgic Signing
The King. Titi. Thierry Henry. Arsenal’s record goalscorer is currently training with the club and despite Arsène saying he has absolutely no desire to re-sign Henry, we know that Wenger isn’t always honest when it comes to transfer. Cazorla who anyone?
A short-term loan isn’t going to solve any problems for Arsenal but with Henry’s contract at New York Red Bulls due to run out at the end of the year a million pounds or so could see the transfer of Henry’s registration on a permanent basis. He would certainly be a popular signing amongst the fans but probably not one that would satisfy the masses. Could he still do it in the Premier League? His lightning pace may have left him but Thierry is no slouch. Not a long-term solution but he could certainly make a positive impact until Arsenal can sign a long-term option in the summer.
Pato seems the most likely option in January and you won’t hear many complaints if he is. What do you think of the players we’ve highlighted?
