The guy's giving all the signs that he wants to join us, saying joining a club like Arsenal can make you dream: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/fo...9/Demba-Ba-says-Arsenal-club-makes-dream.html 'The media know Arsenal need another striker and they know about my release clause. They need to make their own mind up about it. 'Arsenal are one of those teams who makes you dream.' This is as clear as it can get as a come and get me plea, now it's up to us if we make the right move. The guy would be a great signing, the guy's a proven goal scorer in the league, and for only 7.5 million. His wages may be 90k a week, but that's more than affordable, and with his stats, he sure as hell is worth 90k a week at a club like Arsenal.
We were discussing this in the rumours thread. We are also linked with Huntelaar and I just can't see the club going for both. So if you had the choice, Huntlelaar or Ba?
Yeah, i've put this one here because I think this is more concrete now, not just a rumour, he's saying he wants us. I'd choose Ba, for the simple reason that he's an already proven goal scorer in the league.
Has to be Ba. Proven goalscorer in England. Great athleticism and work-rate. What has Huntelaar done in England? What has he done in Spain or Italy? He's scored goals in Germany and Holland... but he failed in Spain and Italy. Huntelaar either needs lower quality leagues, or he needs a very specific team to do well in. Do you really think he'd do well at Arsenal when so many other players have failed here? (Arshavin, Chamakh, etc). From a purely footballing point of view the Premier league requires a high work rate, it requires strikers to drop into the midfield to link up play, and run the channels. RVP, Rooney, Aguero, Tevez, Dzeko, Berbatov, they all do this. Would Huntelaar do this, or would he sit up front waiting for the ball to come to him?
both have there positives and negatives, but for me huntelar over Ba. Huntelar is an out and out goal scorer he may not do anything for 90 mins but given a goal chance we will invariably score. Ba is more an all round striker holds the ball up , socres, mixes up play we have that I Giroud and Pod already but no finishers.
Actually in both Italy and Spain his goal ratio was still around 1 in 2. That's not really the point - he's at ANOTHER level now. Anyone who has been watching him at Scalke will tell you Huntelaar has been sensational.(48 goals last Season) Also the German league is FAR stronger than you think. I would argue it's now as strong as the EPL and is stronger than Italy. Ba is big, athletic battering ram but he's no better than Adebayor. Huntelaar is currently one of the best strikers in World Football - in fact he's been soo sharp he's actually replaced RVP as Hollands first choice CF. (which is saying something considering RVP's form)
Not sure why the "wow", but Francis Jeffers was a "pure finisher" and look how that worked out. Obviously Huntelaar is a better player, but he's in the same mould. Just look at how successful RVP was with us. He was the complete opposite to Huntelaar. The only comparison is they can both finish. Is all this Huntelaar talk just because he scored against us? Or because he's a big name? I'm sure I had this discussion with Arsenal fans years ago, and no-one wanted Huntelaar... how times change.
He had 8 in 20 for Madrid, and 7 in 30 for Milan. Not sure where you get the 1 in 2 from. He failed in the big leagues. He's at another level: IN GERMANY. It's still the 4th best league in Europe. Once you get past the top teams the quality is low. Yes, 48 goals was a good tally, but the season before that he only scored 13 in 35, and this season has 10 in 22. It's about more than scoring goals though. Darren Bent can do better than 1 in 2 with a team funneling all their attacks into him. Huntelaar didn't get that in Italy and Spain, he wouldn't get it at Arsenal. RVPs form for Holland has been bad, Huntelaar's has been good. But it says something about the player that Huntelaar is played in the qualifiers but not the big tournaments. It was the same before the Euros. When you can create 100 chances for Huntelaar he'll score a lot of them, when you need your striker to create chances for himself, you better get RVP in.
Firstly - The Bundesliga is currently ranked at 3rd in Europe (above Italy). With the quality of Dortmund, Bayern's, Schalke & Leverkusen's squads and youth systems it's clear the German league is FAR stronger than Italy and is arguably already as good as the EPL. Also the main thing with Huntelaar is that he is now playing at a MUCH higher level than ever before. The reason he is being hyped is that he has simply been absolutely sensational since joining Schalke and seems to be getting better and better. The fact he's favourite over RVP for the Netherlands also speaks volumes about his quality. I personally think that he's now amongst the top 4-5 strikers in World Football. But to be fair on the guy at 258 goals in 399 apps aside from Messi and Ronaldo he has a goalscoring record that matches up to just about anyone's. Also he did'nt fail at Madrid, he was'nt given a chance.
Well league rankings are based on Champions League and Europa League performance. I'd argue the lower teams in Italy are better than the lower teams in Germany. Neither is anywhere near the Premier League, or "EPL" as you call it. The fact he became "sensational" at Schalke should actually raise some alarm bells. He clearly doesn't adapt easily, and it would be a massive risk to think he would adapt to Arsenal. As I said, all his goals came in Holland and Germany. So you can't compare that to Messi and Ronaldo.
I think its more a stylistic thing. He's like an Inzaghi, Van Nistlerooy or Di Natalie not soo reliant on athletism (although he's a strong lad) he has developed into a very intellegent finisher. And I think like those guys he'll be scoring alot of goals well into his mid thirties. And I'm going to have to SAY IT AGAIN that the Bundesliga is a better Liga than Serie A. I dont think Demba Ba is any better than Giroud. We need a TOP Quality striker like Llorente, Cavani, El Shaarawy, Benzema,Higuiane or Huntelaar.
Llorente has not been getting proper game time and has been in big arguments with his club and manager from what i've heard - so i wouldn't judge him based on his goals scored this season...
I agree, if we're going to buy a striker, we should improve on Giroud. Llorente is a world class striker who is "gettable". Cavani is one who isn't. The others... less so.
Looks like Llorente, Huntelaar and Ba are all available in January - so despite normally me thinking that in January it is very difficult to buy players, we obviously have an opportunity this year to add to our striking options mid way through the season.
Agreed, no excuses for Wenger. I doubt he will buy a striker though. I think we can expect another winger, probably Zaha. We might get a midfielder... hopefully Strootman or M'Vila, but more likely a complete unknown who is 20 years old and plays in Bulgaria..
