A perfect forward-freebie signing for Arsenal?

Arsenal are currently in a position that they haven’t been in for what feels like the better part of a decade. At the moment, I’d argue they have more to offer defensively than they do going forward. Yes they have plenty of talent on the wings and the likes of Theo Walcott and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain are always going to cause talent and create goals, but the fact that they only have one real striker is worrying. Marouane Chamakh has nothing to offer a top four club, whilst Park Chu-Young doesn’t seem to be in Arsene Wenger’s good books.

That only leaves Robin Van Persie, who despite providing the goods on a weekly basis, could probably use some help upfront. Contrast this to the defence, where the Gunner’s currently have Thomas Vermaelen, Laurent Koscielny and Per Mertesacker duking it out for the two available centre-back positions and it’s clear where the deficit lies.

I’m going to go ahead and assume that Lukas Podolski joining Arsenal is a done deal. Whilst that’s a good start, I still think the Gunner’s could do with selling Chamakh (for whatever they can get) and bringing somebody else in. After spending money on Podolski, Wenger may not be so keen to splash the cash on yet another striker. However, if he can sniff out a bargain he may well be persuaded to buy.

Wenger will no doubt be aware that Didier Drogba, Dimitar Berbatov (though Sir Alex is claiming United will exercise a clause in his contract allowing them to extent it by a year) and Del Piero will all be out of contract this summer. Would one of these three operate as the ideal back-up striker?

Wenger has claimed that he tried to sign Drogba before Chelsea snapped him up and he may well be tempted to make a move for him whilst he’s in the autumn of his career. I think he’d be a good signing as long as he doesn’t come with unrealistic wage expectations. Given his power and ability, he may provide the Gunner’s with the much talked about ‘Plan B’ that they still seem to lack.

Del Piero, I’m afraid is too old. He has had a fabulous career, but at 37-years-old, I think his career is now winding down. 1 goal in just 16 Juventus appearances this season seems to suggest he wouldn’t cut it in the Premier League.

Then there’s Dimitar Berbatov, who the Gunner’s would have to pay a small fee to acquire (if Sir Alex is willing to sell to a rival). Of the three players, he’s the man that I believe would fit in best at Arsenal. He has the technical ability that Arsene Wenger likes to see installed in all his players and can put the ball in the back of the net (he was joint top scorer last season). Arsenal tend to create a lot of chances and I’m sure Berbatov would love to get on the end of them.

Of course, Berba wont want to trade one club who isn’t offering enough game-time for another one. Arsene Wenger will have to persuade him that he’ll get plenty of game time and if he can, I believe he could be just the bargain signing Arsenal are looking for.

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