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Arsene Wenger is reportedly interested in signing Valencia forward Rodrigo this summer.
A new striker must be a priority for Arsenal. Giroud has scored 41 goals in 97 Premier League games. It’s a decent return but not one that the likes Aguero, Costa or Suarez would be proud of.
Arsenal need a striker with pace, clever movement and ruthless finishing. Rodrigo is clearly not the answer and doesn’t meet this criteria. The Sapniard, 24, has not proven himself as a striker. He scored once on loan at Bolton in 2010. At best he was just under a goal every other game striker at Benfica. The Portugese league is nowhere near top level.
Rodrigo did well whereas someone like Jackson Martinez has a stunning record in Portugal with 67 goals in 89 games. Martinez certainly knows where the goal is and has started to score prolifically in the Champions League scoring 8 times in 10 games this season. Martinez would be a much better alternative to Rodrigo.
Another possible target for Wenger is Karim Benzema. Benzema is a proven goal scorer for club and country and has proven himself at the highest level. He would be the main man at Arsenal which is not the case at Cristiano Ronaldo’s Madrid. He could relish the opportunity and be a prolific goal scorer for Arsenal.
More recently Rodrigo has been plying his trade in Spain for Valencia scoring 3 goals in 31 games. This hardly screams world class striker. He has often been deployed on the wing with Paco Alcacer or Alvaro Negredo taking centre stage. It underlines why Rodrigo is not the answer and must be avoided.
I think if we want Theo to stay he will have to play that striker role. It’ll be interesting to see how that develops. If he does stay then we have Walcott, Giroud and Welbeck and I don’t see Wenger buying a striker then. On the wing we have Sanchez, Ox and a plethora of midfielders to choose from with Wilshere, Ramsey and Rosicky while also still having Theo and Welbz who can play the wing. With talent in reserves and out on loan(Gnabry, Campbell, Silva, Sanogo) I find it hard to see how Wenger would buy an attacking player, unless something comes up he can’t resist (like Sanchez/Özil).
So I believe our priority is a DM to fight for a place with Le Coq. It’s the one hole in our squad at the moment numbers-wise. Then it all depends on whether Theo leaves(buy a striker), Szczesny leaves(buy a GK) and if we can replace Mertesacker(buy a CB).