Which one player would you buy if you were Arsene Wenger?

The rules of this little game are very simple. You imagine you are a Premier League manager, in this instance Arsene Wenger. Now imagine the financial situation at your club, how much money do you think you have to spend? Now imagine you can only buy ONE player to add to the current squad at the managers current club. Furthermore, the player you buy must be ‘likely’ to come to you. For example, there’s no doubt every Premier League club would love Lionel Messi, but I’m guessing only Chelsea or Manchester United would appeal to him and have a realistic chance of signing him if he ever became available. The player you sign must make a difference and you must say why. Today I start with Arsenal and Arsene Wenger who if I was in the shoes of I would buy…

… David Villa from Valencia for £30m+

It’s no secret that David Villa is one of the most admired strikers in world football and arguably one of the best strikers in the world. His goalscoring record over the past five years bears comparison with any striker in the world game today. It is also well known that Valencia have severe financial difficulties and would find a big offer for their prized asset very difficult to turn down. We know Arsenal are in a very secure financial position and we know that Arsene has plenty of money in the bank to fund a deal. Signing Villa makes sense on so many levels. He would provide the 20+ goals a season Arsenal have lacked since they lost Thierry Henry to Barcelona several years ago and he would fit superbly into Arsenal’s current style of play, which is keeping the ball down and passing to feet, moving into space, creating chances for strikers etc etc.

Then of course there is the potential link up play between the likes of Arshavin, Walcott, Fabregas, Van Persie and Villa. What an attacking quintet that would be, enough to frighten any team.

You can of course argue that Arsenal are scoring plenty of goals as it is and that perhaps Bendtner offers a better contrasting partner to Van Persie in attack and that the money would be far better spent on a central defender (no offence Sol), or a new keeper. That’s fair enough, but even if Arsenal do buy a goalkeeper or a defender, that is not going to change Wenger’s philosophy on football. Wenger’s style of play seems to be about scoring goals first and foremost and with David Villa leading the frontline alongside Van Persie, you have a frontline that would score plenty.

The cost? Well last summer bidding started at £40m and there were few takers. A year older and a year less contract, Villa will probably be interesting clubs at around the £30m mark. Valencia’s financial position hasn’t improved any in the meantime meaning that very soon, they are going to have to start listening to offers, or risk losing the player when his contract expires. He’d cost a bundle in wages certainly and perhaps he would cause Arsene Wenger to break the pay structure at Arsenal. But if Wenger did that, not only would he have a chance of signing Villa, but he’d also have a chance, more importantly, of keeping Cesc Fabregas.

Which one player would YOU buy if you were Arsene Wenger? Let us know below…

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