Olivier Giroud scored 16 league goals for Arsenal last season which by any standard is poor for a striker expected to help a team win the title. But imagine if someone else was scoring goals? Alexis Sanchez scored 13 but the next closest player, Theo Walcott, scored just six. Imagine if Arsenal had three other players in their team who got 16 goals?
Maybe the Gunners would have ended up as winners of the Premier League last season. One player who disappointed the most was Theo Walcott. The former Southampton star started the season well, playing as a striker, but soon lost form and went missing in many important games.
This is why I believe Arsenal fans should be demanding the club buy a right-footed winger-cum-forward. That should be just as much a priority as buying a striker. Walcott has been a “potential star” since 2006 and remains a potential star to this day. There must come a time the club admits the mistake and gives up on the 28-year-old.
And it appears Wenger is thinking along the same lines as me. For according to reports, Arsenal are watching Riyad Mahrez’s situation at Leicester City closely after the Algerian rejected a new contract offer at the King Power stadium.
The Algerian has been fantastic for the Foxes and played a pivotal role in Leicester’s victorious Premier League campaign that earned him the PFA Player of the Year crown.
The versatile midfielder has reportedly turned down a new £100,000-per-week deal, with London club Arsenal and La Liga champions Barcelona on red alert, as reported by The Mirror.
It would be a big setback for the Premier League champions to lose the Algerian just under 24 hours after it was revealed that French man N’Golo Kante has signed for Chelsea. But their loss, could be Arsenal’s gain.
The Algerian international midfielder scored 17 goals and provided 10 assists in the Premier League last season, while forming a formidable partnership with England international striker Jamie Vardy. That’s 17 goals compared to Theo Walcott’s six.
Mahrez, who joined from French Ligue 2 side Le Havre, midway through the 2013/2014 campaign, helped the Foxes earn promotion back to the top flight of English football.
The Gunners, earlier in the summer, failed in their attempt to lure Jamie Vardy from the King Power Stadium, Wenger reportedly triggering the release clause of the striker. Alas, Vardy chose to remain at Leicester City.
And with Mahrez looking like he will leave, Vardy probably will be regretting that decision now.
Chelsea have also been linked with the signing of Mahrez, but I personally do not believe the Blues’ reported interest in the player is genuine. Surely if it was, they would have completed the deal alongside the Kante one? And to be honest, unless Hazard is leaving, they really do not need Mahrez.
