Wenger thinks Rooney, Suarez and Higuain are the kind of players Arsenal should target.
Arsenal’s long-serving manager Arsene Wenger believes that his club should be signing players like Wayne Rooney, Luis Suarez and Gonzalo Higuain, reports The Independent.
Wenger has been chasing a world class striker all summer, and has already had a £30m offer for Luis Suarez rejected. A deal for Gonzalo Higuain was said to be close, but negotiations have stalled in recent weeks due to new Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti’s desire to keep the Argentinian forward.
“They are all realistic targets quality-wise, but not all of them are available to join us,” said Wenger, who is currently on pre-season tour in Indonesia.
“We have better financial resources than the years before and it is resources we have created ourselves. That is massively important to us.”
The three players would bring different things to Arsenal’s side. Higuain would offer the consistent finishing ability that Arsenal currently lack, and Rooney and Suarez would both offer tremendous creativity both inside and outside the box. Rooney has the capacity to play in a deeper dictatorial role, while Suarez can be effective in a free role behind a central striker.
Arsenal clearly wish to use their newly established financial clout to smash their transfer record this summer and bring in one of these proven world-class strikers. Lukas Podolski and Olivier Giroud scored 11 league goals each last year, which is some way behind the top scorers in the league like ex-player Robin Van Persie, and Luis Suarez himself. Theo Walcott managed 14, but Wenger seems determined to use him on the right of a front three.
Acquiring any one of Suarez, Rooney or Higuain seems to be growing increasingly difficult. David Moyes has yet again reiterated that Rooney will not be leaving, Suarez wants to move outside of England (preferably to Spain), and Real Madrid president Florentino Perez wants to keep Higuain.
It will be interesting to see who Wenger moves for if signing one of these forwards proves too difficult.
There are few available strikers of this calibre left in Europe, with Falcao joining Monaco, Robert Lewandowski all but certain to join Bayern Munich next season, and Edinson Cavani close to wrapping up a deal to join PSG.
One high-calibre striker who will be available this summer is Aston Villa’s Christian Benteke. The club have put a £25m valuation on the Belgian forward, after he handed in a transfer request earlier this week. Arsenal could afford this, but whether they feel that the enlarged transfer fee is a risk worth taking is another matter.
Secondly the powerful striker may not fit into Arsenal’s slick passing style. He excelled last year while physically competing for aerial deliveries into the box, and using his impressive strength to hold up the ball. Even if Arsenal were interested in Benteke, they could be pipped to his signature by London rivals Tottenham, who have been made favourites to sign the striker.
It is perhaps getting increasingly difficult to predict who will start upfront for Arsenal on the opening day of the Premier League season.
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