which striker (left back and backup goalie) should we buy?

[highburyJD]

At the moment we have just played Giroud and Gervinho up front
Klingon will presumably go to the "African cup of African nations playing in a cup" this Jan
I like Podolski on the left and think his partnership with Gibbs is developing
Walcott could sign a pre-contract with another club in Jan, when Edu didnt sign he was frozen out
IMO not doing the same with Flamster was a mistake

Presumably an Henry loan will be mooted. Great, cup games can come thick and fast in the new year
I still think we need, and will sign, another striker for the Prem

Gazidis is making noises about serious spending (and its not even season ticket renewal time)
the AST thinks we have a bundle of cash burning a hole in our "warchest"
and (I know the tabloids know nuffing) we are linked with some BIG names:
Like Falcao, El Tigre is the best striker in the world - would be Arsenals biggest ever signing
(DB10 was already my favourite player in the world but he struggled at Inter)
even Lewandoski or Llorente is buying from a higher shelf than we're used to

What other striker names have people heard?
Normally I would expect a more leftfield Eduardo type signing
but with sponsorship deals up for renewal next season maybe its the perfect time we speculate to accumulate

[REB]

well since we have something like £100mill in the bank then i would like falcao, is that too much to ask

[augie]

Would love to sign falcao too but we would never, under this current set up, spend anywhere close to that amount on any one player

Realistically I feel david villa is gettable - the guy had fallen out with barca last season prior to his leg break (a falling out with messi had been rumoured ) and he now appears to behind the likes of pedro in the pecking order which is a scandal in my book. You would also have to wonder how contended he is and would be to continue playing on the wing when the guy is a natural striker and he would be ideal for us and the 20 goal a season striker that we badly need.

Of course realistically we would be looking at signing someone like demba ba or cisse - yes I know that they are probably bound for the acn but am not sure that would deter wenger I remember last season when bruce was managing mackems he said that he wouldnt buy an african player due to the disruption to the team a mid season acn had - of course it didnt end well for bruce there but you cannot argue with his logic imo. Llorente would not make sense to me - yes he would have only 6 months left on his deal so would be relatively cheap (a key word for us nowadays ) but him and giroud are too similar imo.

[aw]

As we've just signed Chuba Akpom,age 17, we don't need to speculate anymore.

Move along please , there's nothing to read here!

[flash gunner]

Getting David Villa would be amazing but as with Falcao and Llorente very unrealistic Wenger and the board would spend the sort of money to get any of them

[SteveO 35]

Perhaps Kalou was the one that got away?

Never mind, hopefully Aliadiere will come back soon

[GranadaJoe]

With Giroud, Gervais, Pod, Theo, Chamakh we have a number of options, but none that set the pulse racing. I don't think there's any benefit to bringing in a 'decent' striker. For me it's do something spectacular or don't do anything.

I would have preferred Llorente to Giroud but they are similar players.
I've never worked Falcao out. Plenty of clubs looked at him before he moved to Portugal. He's not that big, not particularly quick etc but he does have the handy knack of scoring lots of goals and I guess, now that he's been doing it on a regular basis at Atletico, he wouldn't be a gamble. However, if it looked for a second that we were seriously after him I'm sure Citeh and Chelski would outbid us (particularly on wages).
Villa would be a bit of a gamble as he's been injured and was slightly in the shadows at Barca before that, but if the price was right, I love to see us sign him. Like Falcao he was all about scoring and an out and out finisher is what we need.
I also like the look of Lewandowski, who's got pace, works hard and scores goals and is also a bit younger.
Sturridge on a free is probably more likely.

[SteveO 35]

With Giroud, Gervais, Pod, Theo, Chamakh we have a number of options, but none that set the pulse racing.

Bloody hell. Four of those five fail to even get my pulse started

[northbank123]

Of those mooted only Villa would be remotely gettable for us, and even then there's no way we'd do it. There are too many easy lines for Wenger and co about his wage, injuries and the wealth of class already up top in the squad. Ignore the fact that the bloke would score goals for absolute fun.

[g88ner]

If we do sign a striker, I think it'll be a young/cheap one and not an established star player, so I reckon you can ignore any links to Falcao, Llorente, Villa etc.

I think Wenger will persevere with Giroud, Gervinho and Podolski.

It does look like Wenger likes Podolski on the left, but if the other 2 are unavailable (injury, suspension, African Nations, etc. ) then I think Wenger will see Podolski as a damn good third choice centre forward, and simply play Chamberlain, Arshavin, Diaby, etc. on the left wing and move Podolski up top.

We're reluctant to spend big at the best of times, but when we have a number of options that I feel Wenger is happy with, I think the chances of signing an established star to compete with what we're already got is slim to none.

[Metalheadz Gooner]

I think Llorente would work best for us. Can finish, is physical and works hard.

[highburyJD]

surely Lewandoski is more 'gettable' than Villa because of the wages they're on already..?
much, understandable, cynicism on here about us making a big signing
I think it might well happen, I think the board want/need one for PR purposes
just like the Glazers made a statement with RVP (a player ManUre didnt necessarily need)

my issue is Wenger's big money signings (I can think of 4 in the £15M bracket) have been far from unqualified successes:
Arshavin - got us in the CL, then flopped
Reyes - also started, well but never settled
Wiltord - the biggest win but ultimately was an impact sub and a rotation option rather than a superstar
Na$ri - started slow, half a good season. Bottled it, then betrayed the manager. Profit but no trophies.

historically Wenger is as likely to promote a young player as he is to buy a superstar
but Joel Campbell, Ryo Miyachi and Benik Afobe are hardly getting any starts let alone goals
our new commercial deals come up soon, as does Wengers contract renewal
I think we will buy our first £20M player this winter

[flash gunner]

I think we will buy our first £20M player this winter

Hasn't Wenger gone on record saying that January buys are predominantly panic buys? To be fair our strikers havent started badly and we're scoring a few goals as a team so why would he go and spend on such a big player in Jan, if he wanted a new big name striker he would have bought one last summer and as we all know he didnt

[highburyJD]

just a feeling - I'm aware this is a prediction we'll do something we've never done before (spend £20M+)
but Reyes and Arshavin were both winter purchases - give a 6 month prepreseason bedding in
and as I said I think the board need some positive news on the PR front
and Wenger is under more time pressure than ever
(from himself not the board - I just don't see him signing another contract if we win nothing in the next 2 years)

in terms of the new commercial deals a box office marque signing makes sense
I just worry about Wenger's record of shopping at the top table
even Arsenal's record of big signings - Charlie Nicholas was my hero but had a mixed Arsenal career
Marinello was before my time but basically a big name flop
our best signings have been 2nd chances (Bergkamp, Henry to an extent Wrighty who was relatively old) or unknowns (Vieira, Limpar, Dixon, Bould)
When we've been in for the star de jour they generally go elsewhere Cottee, Barnes, RvN

I guess Campbell is the exception but he was a weird one - no lead up and on a free

[g88ner]

I think we will buy our first £20M player this winter

Hasn't Wenger gone on record saying that January buys are predominantly panic buys? To be fair our strikers havent started badly and we're scoring a few goals as a team so why would he go and spend on such a big player in Jan, if he wanted a new big name striker he would have bought one last summer and as we all know he didnt

And having signed Giroud in the summer,it doesn't seem plausible to me that we'll sign a £20m+ striker only a few months later. Especailly as Wenger seems highly unlikely to deviate from his current tactic of playing 1 centre forward.

I just think, based on everything we know about the way Wenger operates, that he's likely to give Giroud and Gervinho the chance to establish themselves, and won't rock the boat by adding another star to the mix... he's much more likely to sign a talented young prodigy like M'Baye Niang (who ended up at Milan) or a relative unknown 20-something from a European league (Park, Chamakh, Kevin Mirallas, Eduardo...) to offer compeition without the high wages.

Obviously, I'd love us to sign Falcao or Villa, but I can't see a good enough reason to get my hopes up. Although, I do like HighburyJD's marquee signing theory, so perhaps I'll put my logic to one side and start believing