Arsenal
Aston Villa
Chelsea
Crystal Palace
Everton
Fulham
Leeds United
Liverpool
Manchester City
Manchester United
Newcastle United
Nottingham Forest
Southampton
Tottenham Hotspur
West Ham United
Wolverhampton Wanderers
Julian Draxler
Arsenal’s need for a striker is pressing, and is a question of quantity as well as quality. With Danny Welbeck out until at least the New Year and Alexis Sanchez to be eased back into the line of fire following the Copa America, Arsenal are short of numbers. However, Arsenal’s increasing need for a striker does not correlate with the availability of one.
No forwards have moved in this window who fitted Arsenal’s needs; Zlatan Ibrahimovic is too old and too slow (after all, the main criticism of Giroud’s presence in the team is his immobility) and Gonzalo Higuain’s buy-out clause was always likely to prove prohibitive. Perhaps, Michy Batshuayi would have been an option worth pursuing, but doubtless would have proved too raw to satisfy many Arsenal fans.
Alexandre Lacazette is the latest name to be linked with Arsenal. With not too many options on the market currently, Arsenal might ‘settle’ for the forward who scored 21 Ligue 1 goals last season. However, he has been a reputable name around Europe for a few windows now and one senses that if he really was the apple of Wenger’s eye Arsenal would have made their move already. Julian Draxler on the other hand, is a player who has grabbed Wenger’s attention in the past.
Though primarily a wide player so far in his fledgling career, when Arsenal were close to signing him in January 2014 there was much talk of Wenger’s desire to convert him into a central striker. In the short term, this could be a risky strategy but the idea of a ‘project’ such as Draxler is likely to appeal Wenger far more than drafting in a second rate option like Lacazette. Alexis Sanchez, who is currently Arsenal’s greatest goal threat, fares better when there is a mobile, fluid front-line and a roaming triumvirate of Sanchez, Draxler and Mahrez could be an attractive proposition.