We should not judge Bony now. We saw last season, how Benteke took the league by storm and then the season after he faded. If Bony impresses again next season, then yeah we should be interested in him.
Benteke is a dodged bullet, shame he didn't sign for Spurs when they were interested. Then again they did sign Soldado Imagine the uproar if Wenger had paid 26m for him.
He is impressive to a certain extent, but he does have some serious flaws in his game as well. His touch and link play is pretty ****e. He is at his best when he has space to run into and when he is at full pelt he is almost impossible to stop because of his speed and power. But, for a team like Arsenal, 80% of the time, we are not going to be facing teams that want to come out and attack us. We normally have to break teams down with our passing, so we need a CF who can link the play like Giroud at his best, but we also need that CF, to be a killer in the box. So, basically we are looking for a world class CF.
I have to agree and I think the Benteke comparison was worth mentioning, because players like Bony and Lukaku strike me as similar powerhouse type of players and not as good as Giroud. As much as he's been slated this season when he's on form and got the players around him making runs from MF, he is brilliant in our system.
The only thing those other guys have on Giroud is pace. If we are going to buy a CF, then it has to be a clear upgrade on the Frenchmen.
I'd be keen on Mandzukic as he'd fit our system and would be an upgrade on Giroud, but he hasn't overly impressed this season. Maybe that has something to do with Lewandowski .. who knows, but becasue of that he'd be a realistic target this summer. I'd still like to see us go for Draxler too.
Atletico Madrid have lined up Arsenal striker Olivier Giroud as a replacement for Diego Costa, who has been heavily linked with a move to Chelsea, according to Spanish radio station Cope. They believe that a move may be quick to complete as Giroud is represented by the same agent as Atletico player Joshua Guilavogui. They quote a fee of £14.8m for Giroud who signed for the Gunners from Toulouse for a reported £12m in June 2012.
If there's any truth in that then we should stop it from happening and prevent Chelsea from getting Costa. Unless Athletico want to sell Costa to us that is
http://www.caughtoffside.com/2014/0...8m-bid-for-man-united-flop-marouane-fellaini/ From Rooney to Nani to Welbeck to Cleverley and now this guy
We are long used to this kind of wind up from the press, something I think you are going to have to get used to. A clue is usually when the article comes with some sort of jibe, in this case against both United and Arsenal, "as Arsene Wenger looks to rebuild his squad to ensure that they don’t fall short of yet another title challenge" and "after just 24 appearances in all competitions this season, the Red Devils are hoping to recoup as much of the original outlay for him and are open to negotiating over sensible offers." Its just rubbish, ignore it.
I wouldn't mind Fellaini as an option, squad player, but only knowing that he is devalued now. No way we'd pay 18m for him.
I'd go for Ballotelli in a heartbeat. He seems to have severe disciplinary problems but Mourinho and Mancini aren't the most diplomatic people. Also, especially at Man City, there were plenty of stars and Mario was frequently benched. Wenger is a 'softly softly' type manager and Ballotelli would be the first name on the team sheet so I think he could thrive at Arsenal and not get pissed off too much. He can win matches on his own; he could be our Suarez if given the chance. I say go for him.
I'd take Balotelli. People used to say they'd never have Suarez in their team before we bid for him last summer. Balotelli is quality, he does seem to have a bit of a chip on his shoulder, but so what ? As long as he was banging in the goals for Arsenal I'm sure we could live with that.
I see three types of strikers i) Powerhouses to hold up the ball. Current world class strikers: Zlatan, Drogba (in his days). Potential for us: Mandzukic, Lukaku, Balotelli ii) Someone with low gravity, high work rate and can create something from nothing. Current world class strikers: Aguero and Suarez. Potenial for us: Alexis Sanches and Tevez (old) iii) Good finishers, clever runs and quick(ish) but don't create things out of nothing. Current world class strikers: Cavani, Costa, Benzema. Potential for us: Benzema , Walcott (did a great game before he got injured). I would want us to go away from the Giroud type of striker - at least for plan A. Giroud should be plan B when we play against a physial side. Otherwise I prefer option (ii) but realistically speaking there is not many of those players so category (i) and (iii) are easier to find.
