Our Arsenal supporters in the Football Transfer Tavern are feeling themselves once again after a morale boosting 2-1 victory over their old North London foes Tottenham Hotspur in the third round of the Capital One Cup last night.
In a game in which Spurs controlled large periods of possession with Arsene Wenger’s men still not looking anything near their best, it was rather strangely Mathieu Flamini who was the hero of the night with a brace to leave the men from down the Seven Sisters Road in jovial spirits.
Volleying his second goal past Michel Vorm with aplomb, our resident Gooners have today joked that the club have found their new number nine with Flamini’s two goals coming in his first appearance of the season for the Gunners.
Written off alongside many Arsenal fans in the summer alongside Mikel Arteta who lined up with Flamini in the middle of the park last night, yesterday’s two goal showing from the Frenchman will at least convince some of his doubters that he still has the stomach for a fight.
As far as their forwards were concerned for the evening, Olivier Giroud was unconvincing while Theo Walcott only emerged near the end but the general consensus is that if one of those two players got injured, Arsenal would be in a fair spot of bother.
Refraining from signing an outfield player in the summer, we know there are no guarantees that Arsene Wenger will be active in January when prices are often hiked up more and certain top level players are cup tied in the Champions League.
With that in mind, we’ve devised a list of five Premier League strikers who Arsenal should prioritise moves for, knowing at the same time that they could compete in the Champions League’s latter stages, if Arsenal get there that is!
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Click on the image below to reveal the 5 Premier League strikers that Arsenal should snap up in January.
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Diafra Sakho
One of those players who seems criminally underrated outside the corner of East London in which he is currently idolised by West Ham United fans, Diafra Sakho has for the large part, done incredibly well during his spell in England so far.
Arriving on these shores as a lesser known name from Metz last summer, the Senegalese international has now scored 12 Premier League goals in 29 overall appearances for the Hammers while notching the latest of those away to none other than Manchester City last weekend.
Incredibly pacey with good movement to boot, Sakho looks like one of those players who could play for a team higher up the food chain than West Ham, with no disrespect to Slaven Bilic’s side who are of course enjoying a fine season of their own accord right now.
Saido Berahino
We all know that he spat out his dummy when West Bromwich Albion didn’t grant him his proposed deadline day move to Tottenham back on September 1st but in fairness to the player, he has since buckled down and scored a hugely important derby goal in the 0-1 victory over Aston Villa last weekend.
Seemingly getting better every season, we are amazed Berahino hasn’t made a full senior appearance for England as yet having proved over the last couple of seasons that he can score against the very best teams in the top flight such as Manchester United and Chelsea.
The England Under-21 international will leave The Hawthorns eventually and when he does, we think Arsenal should be looking to acquire his signature given his clinical nature in front of goal, not to mention strength for somebody not so tall.
What’s for sure is that the Baggies would probably be looking for a fee in or even over the £25 million mark for Berahino’s signature however.
Bafetimbi Gomis
While Swansea City will in no shape or form want to dispose of their star striker Bafetimbi Gomis come January time, we have seen in the past that the Welsh club reluctantly parted with Wilfried Bony to Manchester City in January of this year.
Gomis has been involved in everything good about the Swans’ good start to the season so far, notching four goals which currently places him in joint second with Odion Ighalo, Jamie Vardy and Graziano Pelle in the Premeir League’s top scorer charts.
A thorn in the side of Arsenal on two occasions last term whereby he scored vital winning goals for Garry Monk’s side at both the Liberty Stadium as well as Emirates Stadium, Gomis has now proved he can score big goals in the Premier League and in January of this year, Arsenal were actually linked with his signature.
What’s more, in the lead up to deadline day, reports claimed Gomis only had a £7 million release clause in his contract and if this situation isn’t remedied on the Swans’ part come the forthcoming January window, Arsene Wenger may be inclined to pick up a bargain.
Callum Wilson
While our Arsenal supporters drinking by the bar immediately claim the likes of AFC Bournemouth’s Callum Wilson aren’t good enough to play for their club, the fact of the matter is that he is the Premier League’s joint leading goalscorer right now with five strikes.
Having jumped up from League One with Coventry City to the Championship with the Cherries last term, he’s similarly jumped up another division to the Premier League like a duck to water, looking just as lethal in front of goal when opportunities have presented themselves to the England Under-21 cap.
Still just 23-years-old, if Wilson continues his hot vein of goalscoring right up until the transfer window, the spotlight will be further cast over his talents, perhaps making the big boys sit up and take note.
We’ve already seen with Anthony Martial at Manchester United that you don’t necessarily have to be the biggest name to have an instant impact at a new club and perhaps by January, Wilson will be a surprise name Wenger might have his eye on.
Romelu Lukaku
The last man on our five-man shortlist is an incredibly ambitious transfer target for January considering Everton have proved themselves to be incredibly difficult to barter with in the recently closed summer window.
With Chelsea having been told no, no and no again in regards to their much publicised pursuit of John Stones, we can’t imagine that Roberto Martinez would be willing to give up Romelu Lukaku so readily but nevertheless, he remains one of the Premier League’s best strikers who wouldn’t be cup tied for the Champions League’s latter stages, if Arsenal make it of course.
Our Arsenal supporters by the bar claim Wenger wouldn’t be so ambitious to try and lure the likes of Lukaku away from Goodison Park in January and while this assessment may be correct, we just feel the Arsenal boss should be trying to make more of a splash in the market with his team desperate for a few reinforcements here and there.
Lukaku is fast for a big man and we all know about his brute strength. Having already been at an elite club in Chelsea, the Belgian international has spoken about wanting to make it at a big club again in his career and perhaps Arsenal could be the perfect platform for him to succeed?
