It`s a risky move from Wenger to go through an entire season with only one experienced striker but let`s be honest, that could be about to happen. Unfortunately Welbeck’s injury which will keep him in recovery until February is not the kind of injury you bounce back from right away. Just look at what happened to Wilshere or Cazorla last season. Best case scenario, fans get to see a decent Welbeck by April which is not that helpful.
The Premier League debut is a couple of days and no new striker is in sight. It looks like the reason behind Wenger’s lack of determination to re-bid for Lacazette or his lack of desire to sign Chicharito or Icardi is based on the fact that Arsenal have their attacking line pretty much built. Even if most did not expect this, it looks like Takuma Asano will join Chuba Akpom on the bench at least until January when the Gunners might try signing another player. While Akpom has performed well during the friendly games played over the summer, Asano has only had the chance to show Gooners what he has to offer by representing Japan in the Rio Olympics. The striker scored against Nigeria and is expected to be his country’s number one man up front.
Will he have what it takes to push Sanogo away and not follow in the steps of Ryo Miyaichi, Junichi Inamoto or Park Chu-Young who failed to adapt to European football? There’s great hope for this speedy striker who despite not being too sure he will get to play this season, could get the chance to shine. According to the Telegraph, the Japan international stated the following:
“And then I had the offer from Arsenal. Of course, I was still not sure whether to go or not. I talked with my family and friends and felt good about the decision after talking with them.”
“I’m ecstatic about everything! With the Olympics and also for Arsenal—I’m still not sure if I’ll actually play for Arsenal right away in the coming season, but definitely I’ll try my best.
“My motto is to give 100 per cent for what’s ahead of myself, so I just want to give my best to everything, whether it be for the Olympics or the new season. Even for my career after the Olympics, I definitely want to try to make the top national team.”
Hopefully he will keep his promise and give it his all for Arsenal who will probably use him as a 3rd option for the attack. Looking at how things went during the past couple of seasons, it is very likely he will get to play a couple of games and even provide Wenger the option to change formation and build a faster attacking line depending on the opposition. It`s better this way and it is better to stop using players out of position in order to get the desired tactics up and running. I`m referring here to Walcott in particular who just realized his place is on the right wing and nowhere else. It`s the same with Sanchez who, regardless of how good he is in front of goal, should play in the flank. So let’s hope Asano brings back with him the positive attitude he showed against Nigeria in the Olympics and let’s hope that he and Akpom will have the season of a lifetime as looking at Wenger’s pattern it is very likely that this year will be the year when all the transfer money go towards buying a new striker.