It was a frustrating transfer window for Arsenal fans, watching Premier League rivals splash out untold fortunes whilst Arsene Wenger made just a single £10million signing in Petr Cech – rendering the north London outfit the only club throughout Europe’s leading to flights not to sign an outfield player.
The vast majority of Gunners fans wanted additions to the club’s strike-force, currently composed of Olivier Giroud and two winger-forwards in Danny Welbeck and Theo Walcott, but a centre-forward of renowned scoring prowess inevitably never arrived.
Unsurprisingly, Arsene Wenger has defended his transfer policy, claiming; “Am I happy with the investment I make? Yes, every time. I bought Sánchez, I bought Özil, I bought Cech, I bought Gabriel last year. But when you have to invest you have to find the players to invest in … The problem at the moment is finding the players that guarantee you are a better team afterwards.”
To some extent, the Emirates gaffer has a point. After all, Arsenal spent much of the summer pursuing Real Madrid’s Karim Benzema, only to receive a resounding no from both the club and the player, whilst PSG allegedly demanded £50million for a 28 year-old Edinson Cavani in the final week of the transfer window.
Yet, there were still a multitude of strikers just outside the world-class bracket that, even if not particularly surpassing the quality of Olivier Giroud, would have at the very least strengthened Arsenal’s options and depth in the final third.
So with that in mind, we take a look at five strikers Arsenal realistically could and probably should have signed during the summer transfer window.
It’s done, forgot about it and support the team