Selling Robin Van Persie means Arsenal may join London rivals Chelsea and Tottenham in searching for new strikers in the final fortnight of the transfer window.
With only two weeks left until transfer deadline day, clubs will be doing their upmost to bring in the players they feel will improve their squad for the new season. We discuss how the top three London clubs could end up competing with another as they attempt to strengthen their forward lines.
Arsenal
For weeks, Arsene Wenger said that he had bought strikers Lukas Podolski and Olivier Giroud to play with Robin van Persie and not to replace him – not many believed him. Obviously Wenger was hopeful that his captain would stay at the Emirates but deep down he must have known that come the end of the transfer window, the Dutchman would no longer be an Arsenal player.
Without last season’s Golden Boot winner, the Gunners now lack a certain depth in their squad when it comes to goal-scoring – Nicklas Bendtner is off to AC Milan, not that it will bother any Arsenal fan, Marouane Chamakh has more than a confidence issue whilst Chu-Young Park is…missing.
That leaves Theo Walcott and Gervinho, both of which tend to play more wide than through the middle. Clint Dempsey could be the answer – he has said he wants a crack at the Champions League and would only have to make the short trip from West London to North. Dempsey has been linked with a move to both Merseyside clubs though so Arsenal would have to move quickly. Everton now have beaten the Gunners to the signing of Olympiakos striker, Kevin Mirallas so a move for the American could be a possibility.
Tottenham Hotspur
A permanent deal for Emmanuel Adebayor is looking more and more unlikely and on the eve of the new season, Spurs find themselves with a serious lack of options up front. Jermain Defoe is the only established striker at the club and the England striker will surley be about to get a good run in the side after being left utterly frustrated in recent seasons. Giovani Dos Santos, who can play as a striker or on the right wing has to sort himself out if he is to have any future at White Hart Lane.
Then there’s youngsters Harry Kane and Cameron Lancaster and although the former is tipped to one day become a proven goal scorer, Andre Villas-Boas will not be relying on him this season. Tottenham have showed an interest in Brazilian forward, Leandro Damiao but given Internacional’s asking price, this is unlikely to happen. AVB has said they have been looking a few options but the current market is difficult – he said that they had been in touch about a couple of players but negotiations have stalled.
Many will argue that Tottenham will be ok as they get a lot of their goals from midfield but with Luka Modric heading to Madrid and Gareth Bale and Rafael van der Vaart’s injury records, they’ll definitely need to strengthen their attacking options. Leandro Damiao is the man Tottenham appear to want the most, but after he notched six at the Olympics, and a further one on international duty in midweek, his price tag will have rocketed. Have they left it too late?
Chelsea
Like Tottenham, Chelsea also have a serious lack of strikers. After Dider Drogba left the club in June, Chelsea are left with only two recognised strikers – Fernando Torres and Daniel Sturridge. They enquired after Manchester United’s Javier Hernandez on Friday- a shrewd move if only United were willing to sell.
Whilst Torres seemed to have turned a corner towards the end of last season as he recaptured some form and big things are expected from Team GB striker Sturridge, there are no other options. Again like Spurs, you could say that the Blues will get a lot of their goals from midfield from the likes of Lampard, Mata and Ramires, as well as from new signings Hazard, Marin and Oscar.
Spain proved at Euro 2012 that you can win things without an out-and-out striker but Chelsea will struggle to do the same. They have been chasing Brazil’s Hulk for some time now and still could get their man- but don’t rule out Villas-Boas picking up the phone and making some enquires about bringing the striker to Spurs – he used to manage him at Porto you know…
Arsenal, Tottenham and Chelsea fans, who do you want to see at your clubs next season?
image: © simonw92
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