Arsenal’s need for another top quality striker has been clear all season long. Olivier Giroud has worked hard all season long, but it’s starting to get difficult to watch him play. The Frenchman constantly looks like he’s running through treacle and his performances against the big teams have left a lot to be desired.
Fatigue has clearly become an issue throughout this Arsenal team. Leaving Giroud alone upfront next season will surely break him. There’s only so much that he can take.
As such, bringing in another striker is now a necessity. In particular, Arsenal need to look to bring in a world class option. They need to improve upon Olivier Giroud, not match him.
Shouldn’t be too difficult — right?
According to The Metro, The Gunners are interested in Bayern Munich’s £20m forward, Mario Mandzukic. The 27-year-old has been an important player for Munich over the last couple of seasons. Last year he grabbed 22 goals. This year he’s already found the back of net 23 times. In other words, he’s a natural goalscorer.
As such, Bayern Munich wont want to lose him. Still, they’ve already agreed a deal to sign Borussia Dortmund’s Robert Lewandowski, who is one of the few players throughout Europe with a better goal-scoring record than Mandzukic. This could lead to the Croatian getting squeezed out. In turn, Bayern Munich may wish to pre-empt this eventuality and sell the player before his value begins to decrease.
Publicly, Bayern have made their position quite clear. Check out these quotes from the Bundesliga side’s chairman, Karl-Heinz Rummenigge.
“We want him to stay, and I remain fairly confident he will”.
That’s all well and good Rummenigge, but there’s going to be a lot of competition for his signature this summer. He’s a top quality player and he’ll be concerned about getting shut out next year. I can’t help but feel that there’s a deal to be done here.
Unfortunately, The Metro also claims that Chelsea are interested in Mandzukic. Still, The Gunners now have the financial firepower to match the Blues pound-for-pound. Let’s hope that Arsene Wenger goes for it this summer.
What’s your take? Are The Gunners capable of competing for Mario Mandzukic?
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