COMMENT: So he’s met with David Venditelli about Alexandre Lacazette. And had a word with Mino Raiola regarding Romelu Lukaku. But are these the type of strikers Arsene Wenger should be trying to bring to Arsenal?
Lukaku is a monster. No question. A mega talent. The £65 million Everton are asking for the Belgian is no crazy demand at current market rates. Getting big Rom through the doors at London Colney would certainly give Gooners a shot in the arm.
But like Lacazette, the Lyon striker, would adding Lukaku to their options simply be overkill? He’s more mobile than Olivier Giroud, sure. But they still do a similar job. And when (or is that if?) Danny Welbeck gets beyond his injury problems, can you really see he and Lukaku playing successfully together?
It’s dead in the water now. But what was exciting about Wenger’s move for Jamie Vardy is that the Leicester City striker is unlike anything he has on Arsenal’s books. A striker who is at his best facing the goal. Who comes alive in the box. And one who can burn off nine out of ten defenders anywhere in Europe. He offered Wenger something completely different. Lukaku and Lacazette may be a step above what he currently has, but it’s still more of the same.
The manager had a busy few days last week. He spoke with Everton and Raiola about Lukaku. Then in France, he was on the phone to Jean Michel Aulas, the Lyon president, about a price for Lacazette, before also putting in a call to the player’s agent, Venditelli. Both were scouting expeditions. Nothing was tabled. No deal was signed. Such matters were left to Richard Law, Arsenal’s dealmaker. While Wenger worked the continent, Law was overseeing a deal for Takuma Asano, the Sanfrecce Hiroshima striker.
Cue the groans from underwhelmed fans. But while Wenger says Asano is “one for the future”, there is something for Gooners to cling onto in the 21 year-old’s signing.
Asano, last year’s J-League Rookie of the Year, stands at 5ft 7in. He’s rapid. Agile. And a decent finisher. Wenger, on this evidence, is looking for that alternative goalscorer. We won’t see Asano next season. He may not even qualify for a work permit. But after Vardy, Wenger clearly hasn’t shut the door on finding something completely different.
And they’re out there.
We know Bayern Munich would snap Wenger’s hand off if he came calling for Mario Gotze. Sergio Barila, Carlos Bacca’s agent, is again busy drumming up interest for the AC Milan striker. And one who’s just slipped the net is Ahmed Musa, the CSKA Moscow goalscorer, who is about to put pen to paper on a deal with Leicester City. Steve Rowley watched Musa extensively when the Nigerian was playing in Holland with VVV Venlo. That he has been so successful in Russian football only justifies what Rowley thought of him four years ago.
There’s no excuse for Wenger. They’re out there. Available. But as Leicester have shown with both Vardy and Musa, he needs to be decisive. When you consider it was Crystal Palace’s Ä38 million offer that kicked Chelsea into action regarding Michy Batshuayi, you realise how quickly the landscape is changing in English football.
Being ‘Arsene Wenger from Arsenal’ no longer cuts it. The luxury of taking your time is gone. Need to know how competitive it’s become? Last Tuesday, when Chelsea clinched Batshuayi’s signature, Vincent Labrune, the Marseille president, had also accepted offers from Palace, Tottenham, West Ham and Juventus for the Belgian. They had all arrived inside less than 24 hours. And this was June – not deadline day September.
News of Wenger testing the ground for Lukaku and Lacazette was accompanied by a club source insisting the Frenchman would not be rushed.
ìArsene is keen to get a new striker in as soon as possible,” the insider stated, “but won’t rush anything and overspend.”
But as Batshuayi proved last week, such an approach just won’t work in today’s game. Leave your phone off for an afternoon, Arsene, and Lacazette has signed for West Ham and Lukaku is on his way to Turin.
Rushing and overspending is now the norm. Wenger can’t work the market on his terms. Granit Xhaka is a cracking signing. But in the Vardy case, Arsenal were outplayed by little Leicester.
He needs a big striker signing. And by today’s news, it appears he’s trying to make it happen. But Wenger also needs to make the right striker signing. The type of goalscorer he’s seeking shouldn’t begin and end with Vardy’s rejection.
Contributed by Chris Beattie of TribalFootball.com