A realistic discussion of potential striker targets.

[Adam]

wenger said he wanted two strikers at the AGM, so i doubt he will go for boumsong. in any case, it is too big a risk to buy a defender who has only proven himself in the french league - he has surely learnt his lesson from cygan.

as for the strikers, there are so many ones we have been closely linked to - eto'o, kluivert, reyes, smith, viduka, defoe, etc. if myles palmer is right that two strikers signed for a few weeks ago, then one of them could be kluivert as he was in town on the same day. my preference would be for eto'o or smith, though reyes would be ideal if we could afford him.

interesting. does anyone know if klivert was seem at the Arsenal?

This is all speculative rubbish. Wenger has stated that he has not contacted any player or thought about transfers extensively.

Is Arsène Wenger a liar?

Do we have a tendency to believe sensationalist journalist crap?

Myles Palmer is at the height of this .

 

[thegame24]

who is this myles palmer anyway?

 

[Adam]

who is this myles palmer anyway?

The writer of ANR articles : www.anr.uk.com

His football analysis is good, but take his inside information and guesses with a hefty pinch of salt.

 

[Jinn]

I think he's been right... once.

The signing of Jeffers.

 

[JGooner]

he does indeed talk a lot of crap and is one of the most self-congratulatory writers out there but he did predict the jeffers, gio, campbell signings, and a few others too. wenger has indeed said he hasn't contacted any players but you wouldn't expect him to say anything else. he is not a liar, but he is canny.

 

[Adam]

he does indeed talk a lot of crap and is one of the most self-congratulatory writers out there but he did predict the jeffers, gio, campbell signings, and a few others too. wenger has indeed said he hasn't contacted any players but you wouldn't expect him to say anything else. he is not a liar, but he is canny.

Yep, he signs players then announces it!

 

[Jinn]

NOT the other way round.

*taps nose*

 

[GoonerGurjit]

Out of all the strikers suggested...Eto'o and Jose Reyes would be my preferences but I can't see us being able to afford one let alone both. Kluivert seems the most likely one...

 

[Webdesignlab]

Out of all the strikers suggested...Eto'o and Jose Reyes would be my preferences but I can't see us being able to afford one let alone both. Kluivert seems the most likely one...

Well it seems we have had a bid for Reyes rejected, but this shows we do indeed have money to spend. If we do not land reyes, the at least we can afford someone else.

Anyway Kluivert is a great player.

 

[lewdikris]

Reyes has been a longterm pursuit - but unless he decides he wants to come to Arsenal specifically we've no chance: Sevilla have a gold mine waiting for them, and they'll use it to the best of their ability. WHich is fair enough for them.

It's kind of a shame now we didn't go for Quaresma during the summer - a phenomenally talented winger.

If Wenger really wanted a right winger, and was convinced the Iberian peninsula was the way to go, he might look at Joaquin at Betis, a longterm Man U target. I figure he'd cost 12 million ish.

He's bloody good.

But whether he is looking at a right winger is another question.

 

[Arjan]

I can see kluivert coming, recently he has been playing well for barca, which IMO suggests that he has been relieved of the burden of playing in front of the barca fans.......

I think he is playing in barcelona till januari and then moving to Arsenal

 

[JGooner]

joaquin is the ****ing geezer. would love him at arsenal.

 

[lewdikris]

Yeah, everything seems to have gone quiet with him. I'm not sure, but one of Reyes or Joaquin MUST be a longterm Real Madrid target - Zidane and Figo don't have many more years yet. I wouldn't be surprised if one of them got tapped up, and agreed to wait a couple of years until they hit the big one.

Joaquin was an awesome discovery in the World Cup, a real game changer.

 

[lewdikris]

Ok - Have just listened to Wenger's press conference yesterday.

He rules out moving for a central defender - the questioner asked about Mexes, and he said, we don't need a defender. Mentioned Senderos coming back, and his high hopes for him. Which seems fair enough.

When asked about Reyes, he noticeably hesitates. Yabbers about being more worried about Leicester and Moscow, but the hesitation is tantalising. Says no bids have been made yet for anyone, but that money is available for the longterm future of the club.

I think you can read into that that whoever we go for will be young - so forget Kluivert. What Wenger's been doing with Senderos, Cesc, Ali etc has been to create a situation where Arsenal 2006-8 can be secured - because even when we get Ashburton (or Wembley) cash will still be initially tight.

Someone like Reyes (or Joaquin, Defoe, whoever) may cost a bomb longterm, but they could be a great investment. Cesc and co already will be. That's where our thinking should lie - 20 year olds full of potential.

O, and he says that the West Brom game will see the same youth/experience mix. Which is great - and as it's on Sky we can all (in the UK!) watch it.

 

[Andrew]

Ok - Have just listened to Wenger's press conference yesterday.

He rules out moving for a central defender - the questioner asked about Mexes, and he said, we don't need a defender. Mentioned Senderos coming back, and his high hopes for him. Which seems fair enough.

When asked about Reyes, he noticeably hesitates. Yabbers about being more worried about Leicester and Moscow, but the hesitation is tantalising. Says no bids have been made yet for anyone, but that money is available for the longterm future of the club.

I think you can read into that that whoever we go for will be young - so forget Kluivert. What Wenger's been doing with Senderos, Cesc, Ali etc has been to create a situation where Arsenal 2006-8 can be secured - because even when we get Ashburton (or Wembley) cash will still be initially tight.

Someone like Reyes (or Joaquin, Defoe, whoever) may cost a bomb longterm, but they could be a great investment. Cesc and co already will be. That's where our thinking should lie - 20 year olds full of potential.

O, and he says that the West Brom game will see the same youth/experience mix. Which is great - and as it's on Sky we can all (in the UK!) watch it.

And Cesc cost 2.5million which was no bargain either. So we could be willing to spend more than we think. I am sure we definitely tried to sign Reyes but our chances of doing so are little to none now that all the big name clubs are interested.

 

[Jinn]

However this news does indicate that our financial situation is nowhere as bad as made out in the press. Many of us here on this forum suspected that we did in fact have some money to spend, and this so-called failed bid for Reyes would seem to support this.

So we're looking for younger players who can become world-beaters in a few year's time, rather than players who are overhyped and overpaid.

Fair enough.

I have faith in our scouting network enough to know that we will pick someone up just as good as Reyes, although probably not as well known.

 

[Anonymous]

Leaving in the summer i can see Kanu, Jeffers and wiltord. I cant see the point in selling Wiltord in January, especailly if we get through in the CL. I also can see Dennis signing on for another year.

That would leave us with Henry, Dennis, Ali. There is also Bently, but i see him more as a future Pires replacement. Wenger has said that he likes to have four good stikers, and likes to have two on the bench. I also think we could do with another to make five.
That would mean that we need to sign two strikers. Dennis is getting old and cant play every game for various reasons, and Ali still has a lot to prove. That would mean one would have to be a major signing, and probably one of Eto'o and Kluivert.

Eto'o is much more in the mould of Henry, fast and powerfull. Kluivert is more in the mould of Kanu, slower and more of a presence. It all depends on what Wenger wants. I have a feeling he would prefer the Kluivert option, especailly for European away games. he likes the withdrawn striker, which Kluivert could fill, whilst eto'o couldnt. In the absence of Kanu and Dennis we would need this type of player (although i think Pires could do a job there).

Other players we have been linked with such as Smith and Defoe i dont want. Both are good players, but are they better than Ali?

 

[Sammer]

Whatever happend to Eto`o ?

Forsell would have been my first (affordable) choice though.....

 

[Pikeypete]

Sol, "AW likes to play a withdrawn striker". I reckon Arsène is hoping to play Henry deep with an out an out striker in front of him. Henry likes to create chances as a playmaker and make rapid runs at the defence to score classic Henry goals. So why cant Henry play deep and have a Smith or Eto further forward?

 

[lewdikris]

Maybe we should include Kamara of Modena in this list. There's something about him on Skysports - he seems to be a hot prospect, though i don't no squat about him. He fits the model though.

O and Smith is not a flatout striker, which is why i don't think we'll go for him. For whatever reason, i just dont see him in the red and white.