I was somewhat surprised to see a recent article on Bleacher Report suggesting that Arsenal should steer clear of Schalke 04’s ace striker Klaas-Jan Huntelaar. What? Arsenal, one of the Premier League’s most misfiring sides, should avoid one of football’s best strikers?
What’s more, he’s sure to be one of European football’s best bargains this January or next summer. The Bundesliga star is approaching the end of his contract at Schalke and could leave at a cut-price this January or for free next summer. Even factoring his wages, Huntelaar is likely to represent great value for money.
This is an area of the pitch that Arsenal desperately need to improve upon. Every have-a-go pundit and their dog knew that selling Robin Van Persie would open a huge void within this Arsenal side. They’ve been proved absolutely right.
Olivier Giroud, bless his cotton socks, has done his best, but he’s a severely limited player. Whilst it’s difficult to criticize his finishing ability, or his aerial prowess, he has no pace to speak of, no first touch and no technical ability. Not so long ago, Arsenal strikers would possess all of these attributes and more.
Now, I don’t claim that Huntelaar is a ‘pace demon’. Nor that he can pull the ball out of the sky and flick it over the opposition like Thierry Henry or Luis Suarez (who is exactly the kind of player Arsenal should be after, but somewhat out of their price-range). What he can offer, however, is goals. He’s a natural finisher. He rarely needs to use pace as a weapon, because he always takes up smart positions. Then it’s just a case of waiting for his team-mates to pick him out and applying the finish.
He’s a better rounded player than Giroud and has way more experience and know-how. He’s due a turn in the Premier League and would surely make a smart addition for Arsenal.
The aforementioned article seems a little concerned that Huntelaar could flop at the Emirates, but those worries don’t really pay due respect to his goal-scoring record.
Besides, if things go to plan, he hopefully wont be the only addition that Arsene Wenger makes to his attack. The Gunners are way off the mark at the moment and proper attention needs to be paid to this area to help them get back on track.
But to say ‘no’ to a player of Huntelaar’s quality, when Arsenal are in desperate need? That just seems crazy.
What’s your take? Should Arsenal be in the market for Klaas-Jan Huntelaar?
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The article warning us off of Huntelaar was a very ill-thought out article indeed, boardering on stupidity really !
As soon as (I became aware that Huntelaar was available, I was hoping that we’d go back in for him …. his crudentials are excellent and there is no end to the goal scoring options he’d bring to Arsenal. Problem is, now that he’s so much back in the spotlight, you can bet your bottom dollar that his so called bargain price won’t remain that for long as a few top club both here and abroad try to snatch him up ! AW has always been a long temr admirer of Huntelaar, but I think we’ve missed a bit of a trick in not contacting S and letting them know our intentions as early as possible ?
Giroud is a cracking player and he’ll deliver on goals for us, but he is not a direct RvP replacement who can do it all on his own again and again. he is also just half a yeard short of EPL place, but but his on the ball awareness and intelligent reading of the game means he is very often in all the right places ( and this is a quality never to be underestimated or appreciated ). True, when in those very right places he has sometimes failed to convert those opportunities, but that was down to a combination of factors. he is finding his confidence how and the goals are starting to come.
Now with Huntelaar, he has that extra yard of pace that Giroud is missing currently. He can also make goals out of nothing and, most importantly of all, he doesn’t have RvP to compete with at the Gunners any longer. I think Huntelaar would form a fantatsic partnership with Giroud upfront, along with Pod, Corzola, Rosicky, Walcott directly behind them.
I still think we also missed a major trick in not siging the DM from Montpeiler, Mbwia – that would of seriously firmed up the back end !
Lets just hope that we retain Theo and get Huntelaar onboard. Zaha I can take or leave, tbh.
Huntelaar is a gud player bt his age is catching up with him, thts the main reason we sold RvP, and plus he dsnt have a resale value…i doubt we’ll go 4 sme1 lyk tht. Thr’s no gud rsn 2 brng Huntelaar considering tht we sold RvP…we shld brng in the likes of Llorente, Lewandoski,….alternatively change th formation to old fashioned 4-4-2 to get Giroud, walcott n Podolski firing
We really need huntelaar becos he’s d perfect replacement 4 rvp both in arsenal and in national team.He has alot of experienc that our up coming players wil benefit from and also a goal machine.Pls get huntelaar 4 us.
Only trouble is he is cup-tied; unless we are suggesting we may use Giroud for CL games and Huntelaar for the EPL and other cup games. I am not a fan of the Dutchman because I don’t believe he possesses the skills of RvP nor the pace required to succeed in the EPL. We must recall his stints at Madrid and Milan weren’t, exactly, earth shattering which says a lot about his ability to shine in the big leagues. We may sign him but if we carry on as if he is the be all, end all of our problems, then we could be sorry.
Honestly I don’t see the point in signing ‘the hunter’ his age and also I feel he won’t deal with the pressure at arsenal,at schalke there is no pressure,I would prefer doumbia,lewendowski,soldado..pity porto got jackson martines for less than 10mil