Yesterday’s blog with regards to our links to David Raya garnered a similar response from many.
“Arsenal have their priorities wrong. We need a new striker, not a new goalkeeper.”
This statement has two parts that I think need addressing.
Arsenal have their priorities wrong
Some fans seem to think that by us looking at a new goalkeeper, we are showing that we prioritise a keeper over a new striker. This is not the case.
We were neither targeting a new keeper or new striker this summer. Neither was considered a priority by Edu, Mikel Arteta or the recruitment team.
There were 3 main priorities going into the summer: a new defensive midfielder, a new attacking option, a new defensive options. In Declan Rice, Kai Havertz and Jurrien Timber we cover off all 3 priorities fairly quickly.
After spending so much on 3 top players, any further signings were only going to happen depending on sales. It would basically be one in, one out.
The main expectation was that we might see Thomas Partey leave. Replacing him would have been a 2nd defensive midfielder to go alongside the acquisition of Rice. It now looks like Partey is going to stay.
Unexpectedly, Matt Turner has become subject to an enquiry from Nottingham Forest. And he has signalled his interest in joining him.
One thing Arteta and Edu are both acutely aware of is players wanting to leave for regular football. Both have moved in their career’s to play more regularly. It is clear neither will stand in the way of a squad player if they wish to move elsewhere to start week in, week out. As long as the price is right of course…
This stance will lead to players respecting Arsenal and assist with our recruiters. Players will know that our management care about their careers and will not force them to stay when not playing.
Whilst Arsenal were not actively looking to sell Turner, we would also not get in his way if he asked to leave to be first choice somewhere. And that opporunity looks to have risen with Forest.
Forest is a step down from The Arsenal. But at 29-years-old, Turner might never get a better chance to be a first choice keeper in a top league in Europe. He would be crazy to sit on our bench instead of playing week in, week out for them.
If a deal is done for Turner, than Arsenal are short of a goalkeeper. We certainly will not turn back to Rúnar Alex Rúnarsson (who basically went on the US tour just to make up the numbers in training).
Being proactive, once that interest from Forest came in and Turner let the club know he would be interested, we begun making enquiries on his replacement. Top of the like would have been Raya.
So this situation is not us prioritising a goalkeeper over a striker. It is that circumstances could mean that a goalkeeper becomes a priority.
If Turner leaves, would you rather spend £40m on Raya, or have Rúnarsson as second choice and a new £40m striker?
A new striker
We already have 3 strikers at the club – Gabriel Jesus, Eddie Nketiah and Folarin Balogun. We also have Kai Havertz, Gabriel Martinelli and Leandro Trossard who have played down the middle at some point in their career.
A new striker will only come in this summer if both Nketiah and Balogun depart. Otherwise we simply do not have the squad place for them.
For those now saying “well sell Nketiah and Balogun then”. Grow up. Football is not as easy as Football Manager and FIFA. For us to sell them, there would need to be a buying club interested in paying what we want. It is not as easy as the old “fax interested clubs”.
And (and this is a huge and), if we do sell both, who are we actually recruiting?
I have blogged countless times over the last 6 months about there being a dearth of top strikers across Europe.
We either need someone who is not as good as Jesus, but better than Nketiah, and happy to be 2nd choice. Or someone that is better than Jesus and hope Gabi does not follow Nketiah and Balogun out of the door.
When you consider Manchester United’s 12 months earch for a new striker will end up with them spending £72m on a 20-year-old Nicolas Bendtner re-gen, you perhaps realise how few top strikers there are out there…
Chelsea have ended up spending over £100m on Christopher Nkunku and Nicolas Jackson.
Nkunku is quality, but not an out and out forward. Jackson, meanwhile, comes with a record and reputation no better than Balogun.
Had we sold Balogun and Nketiah and signed a 22-year-old with 21 careers goals in 92 games, I bet all those saying “we have our priorities wrong” would also be complaining.
When you ask who we should target, you often get the same names: Osimhen, Toney, Watkins.
We do not have another £100m+ to splash on Osimhen. And you have to wonder what Napoli are actually asking for considering that neither Chelsea or Man U went for him.
Toney is banned until the new year, so a move now would make zero sense (considering he is banned from “all footballing activities” I doubt we can even sign him), and Watkins is no better than Balogun or Nketiah. Both would have scored as many for Aston Villa last season.
As for Vlahovic and Mitrovic, these are both different style strikers to what we currently have.
“Perfect, a Plan B then”. Well no. The strikers primary job will be competition and cover for Jesus. Therefore he has to be a similar style player. Otherwise we would be chaging our entire style of play if Jesus ever got an injury / dropped for being out of form.
A few will mention Elye Wahi. Whilst he looks to have plenty in his locker, he also comes with a lot of baggage.
The truth is, there is no real outstanding candidates out there. Which is why we are probably not prioritising it this summer.
I imagine our scouting network will be told “over the next 12 months we want you to find us another striker”. And that gives us the time to run the rule over them.
And a final point, last season we scored 88 league goals. The most in our history. The narrative that we are poor upfront is just not true.
So if you have got this far, hopefully you realise that Arsenal are not prioritising a keeper over a striker. It is just if circimstance transpire, a goalie becomes a priority.
As for a striker, this is not the 00s where there were a lot of top strikers in world football. Gone are the days where a team could have 3-4 top forwards in their squad. Football has changed…
Have a good Tuesday.
Keenos
She Wore A Yellow Ribbon 
Why on earth we need to buy a future Nketiah or Balogun when we already got the original pair? At least the original pair are up and running without needing time to adjust. The current generation have no idea of progress and development. They want every single thing to be the best with magic and trickery. No patience, no respect and no brain. And they think they are right. Very dangerous combination.
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