Wenger Places Multiple Bids On Strikers

Posted by Seth Walder | Posted in English Premier League, World Soccer | Posted: July 26, 2009 at 3:33 pm

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mirko-vucinicWith the sale of Kolo Toure almost complete to Manchester City, presumably has money to spend and will, presumably, attempt to bring in a striker to replace Emmanuel Adebayor. While Wenger has already been linked to Klaas Jan Huntelaar and Marouane Chamakh, it seems as if he is playing the field and weighing his options after allegedly making bids for Roma striker Mirko Vucinic and Chelsea’s Salomon Kalou.

The Daily Star reported that Wenger has placed a 17-million pound offer for the Roma star, who scored 17 goals in 38 appearances for the club last season. While Roma would prefer to hang onto their scorer, they need the cash, so it seems as if this may be a serious possibility. Apparently, Wenger is offering 7 million pounds for Kalou, though whether Chelsea would be willing to sell the 23-year old, especially to a rival such as Arsenal, is unclear.

Certainly the Vucinic transfer seems to make more sense for the Gunners. Firstly, the fact that Vucinic is an established player entering the prime of his career would seem to ease the fans concerns that Wenger will only chase youngsters. While Vucinic may not be able to fully replace Adebayor’s goals, it would definitely be a great start. Personally, I don’t see the Kalou deal happening, but even if it did, it’s not the type of deal Arsenal needs. Clearly, a proven goal scorer is what the Gunners need, and while Kalou has potential to be there, taking on another project is not in the short-term best interests of the club, no matter how appealing the idea may be to Wenger.

On the whole, Wenger is probably just playing the odds that some of these deals won’t pan out. While we all assume that Huntelaar is Wenger’s first choice, getting in place a Vucinic option as a backup is by no means a bad idea. It may be that Wenger prefers Vucinic for whatever reason, though no doubt the fans would prefer the Dutchman. In my opinion, the best way forward would be to more aggresively pursue Chamakh. The hold-up has been that Bordeaux seeks Silvestre as part of the compensation, and to be honest, why not? It’s not like Silvestre has done anything spectacular at the Emirates, and the club needs a man up-front. While we can never be sure what Wenger will do, it does seem that some new striker out there will be donning an Arsenal uniform come the start of the season.

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Comments (2)

Hey Seth, what do you think of Colbie Caillat’s new single? I think I’m fallin’ for it.

I don’t think Arsenal will buy another striker, wenger had vela stick on the team last year even tho he could have been loaned out and starting for a segunda team or a relegation fringe primera team for a reason. with eduardo coming back, RVP seemingly healthy, wenger’s faith in bendtner, his toying with walcott as a forward and the ability to have Arshavin play at forward as well, it just wouldn’t show any confidence in his current array of strikers and wouldn’t address the more important need of a CB and holding midfielder. not to mention its very unlike wenger to spend so much on a player.

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