Very interesting player, read about him a few weeks ago. Supposedly has a €3.5m clause if they go down or if they stay up €7m. From those who have watched him they reckon look a very good prospect and we should definitely looking at players like this. There are plenty of players around who are very good but go for reasonable prices but we've not really had our eyes on the ball in recent years imo. I'll see if I can find any more on him

Definitely need a backup striker, should be under £10m imo to leave us funds elsewhere. So possibly either Drmic, Remy, Batshuayi or maybe even Bacca but I think the last two might be a bit expensive.

Klaus wrote:

Anyway, this idea that we won't sign anyone else is just bullshit speculation. Here's a good talent with a good goalscoring record and he could go for as little as £5 million, and people still find a way to put a negative spin on the story?

Same in the Remy thread mate, when we get linked to a non superstar player people just assume that we are only going for him.

Price per goal is good. Why not?
You guys do realise that our striker list is Giroud, Bendtner and Sanogo. We need to remove at least 2 of those from our preferred list

Supposedly Matthäus (guy who started the rumours) says his wife is looking for a home in London. Only problem seems to be a lot of people are saying he doesn't have a wife!

Yo is he better than Giroud?
Can he run clean on through?
Can he quickly turn and shoot?
Can he trap a ball dead like his boot had glue?
All I'm asking is, is he better than Giroud?

JazzG wrote:

Same in the Remy thread mate, when we get linked to a non superstar player people just assume that we are only going for him.

i get your point, but it's exceedingly unlikely that we are going to sign a star striker and drmic, and sell giroud, bendtner and maybe podolski. it would basically be an entirely new strike force in a world cup summer. has any top team EVER replaced all their strikers in one summer?

just ain't gonna happen, mate, this isnt FM.

Gunner89 wrote:

Spend big in other areas? This is the area we need to improve the most.

Having a striker who scores regularly and scores in the big-games. Hardly fair to expect a 21 year old to do that.

If everybody thinks this way, there will never be a new superstar striker born.

Imagine if we bought Lewandowski from Poland at 21 year old, people would be complaining as well.

Drmic, Draxler, Schneiderlin, Coleman and it would be a dream summer.

Clrnc wrote:
Gunner89 wrote:

Spend big in other areas? This is the area we need to improve the most.

Having a striker who scores regularly and scores in the big-games. Hardly fair to expect a 21 year old to do that.

If everybody thinks this way, there will never be a new superstar striker born.

Imagine if we bought Lewandowski from Poland at 21 year old, people would be complaining as well.

Drmic, Draxler, Schneiderlin, Coleman and it would be a dream summer.

Yes because all 21 year olds turn out like Lewandowski isn't it and it's you've seen the crystal ball to see him lift the ballon d'or
Lewandowski was not a superstar at 21 and not all players turn out like Lewandowski. Either Wenger gambles his summer on another young player in the hope he turns good and find other players not willing to be that patient exactly like last time or he buys a good forward ready to contribute now.

No dream summer for me has Giroud being the starting striker next season.

I agree with Clrnc. Sometimes you have to gamble on a young player and his potential and buy him before becomes a big name. I remember we were heavily linked with Dzeko one season with Primorac having recommended him for Arsene but nothing materialized. In the following season he helped Wolfsburg to their best season ever and into the CL with over 20 goals to his name and the rest is history. Point is we could have signed him for peanuts and who knows maybe Drmic could be the next Dzeko? His goal scoring record is impressive.

Sometimes you have to pay the big-money to sign big players especially when you have the money and CL football. Because 1 or 2 young players fulfilled their potential doesn't mean it happens often. It happens less than it doesn't. This is our weak point. If it was a position where we had a competent player already than I'd say otherwise. If Wenger's signs this guy as our sole striker than unless he starts banging them in from the get-go we are winning nothing.

What happens is either the player doesn't make it which is more likely or if he does develop in 2-3 years other players stop being patient and leave like what happened last time around. Ozil is 26 this year. You think he's going to wait 2-3 years for kids to fulfill their potential so he can start winning the league by the time he's 30? Sagna's probably seen enough of these players develop to f*ck off 2-3 years later many times in his career here.

Agreed. We need a top striker this Summer and Drmic should be brought in as squad depth but apart from Mandzukic I'm struggling to see who we can realistically bring in. I know you don't fancy Balotelli either and the likes of Costa and Cavani are pipe dreams I feel. Based on that I think the optimal outcome this Summer would be to sell Giroud and sign Mandzukic as the new starting striker along with Drmic or Remy as a backup striker.

I think Cavani is a pipe-dream. Costa is possible. It's between Chelsea and us.

If it's between Chelsea and us we'll lose that battle. Chelsea could allow Atletico to keep loaning Courtois or maybe even sell him to them, send Torres/Lukaku the other way and they could offer Costa more wages and a certain starting spot.

We are not getting a top striker this summer. Folks need to accept that. Missing out on Suarez/Higuain was a criminal act. We need to evaluate who is the best for from amongst Benteke, Drmic, Mandzukic, Remy and men of their ilk. We should NOT abandon buying a striker just because we cannot land a superstar. That's beyond foolish. Of course we should try the Costas first but we should be pursuing the above simultaneously

Bild are reporting he has said he doesn't have a wife and these rumours aren't true. He also did say it would be a dream come true to join us!

kamikaze wrote:

i get your point, but it's exceedingly unlikely that we are going to sign a star striker and drmic, and sell giroud, bendtner and maybe podolski. it would basically be an entirely new strike force in a world cup summer. has any top team EVER replaced all their strikers in one summer?

just ain't gonna happen, mate, this isnt FM.

As of this summer we are only going to have two strikers as Bendtner is leaving so I can definitely see two coming in. I don't think Wenger rates Akpom so he isn't going to be promoted and have doubts if Joel Campbell will make it here. But I can only see one big money striker whereas the other would have to either be experienced backup or a promising talent. If this guy has a clause of £5m he ain't gonna break the budget. Chelsea might be doing a similar overhaul this summer, Eto'o contract iirc is up and Ba wants out. Even talk of Torrres leaving so they might be in for two strikers as well.

Hadn't heard of him until a few days ago but who knows he could be worth a punt. I like the idea of a versatile forward which apparently he is. Lord knows we need another one or two attacking players.

JazzG wrote:

Bild are reporting he has said he doesn't have a wife and these rumours aren't true. He also did say it would be a dream come true to join us!

kamikaze wrote:

i get your point, but it's exceedingly unlikely that we are going to sign a star striker and drmic, and sell giroud, bendtner and maybe podolski. it would basically be an entirely new strike force in a world cup summer. has any top team EVER replaced all their strikers in one summer?

just ain't gonna happen, mate, this isnt FM.

As of this summer we are only going to have two strikers as Bendtner is leaving so I can definitely see two coming in. I don't think Wenger rates Akpom so he isn't going to be promoted and have doubts if Joel Campbell will make it here. But I can only see one big money striker whereas the other would have to either be experienced backup or a promising talent. If this guy has a clause of £5m he ain't gonna break the budget. Chelsea might be doing a similar overhaul this summer, Eto'o contract iirc is up and Ba wants out. Even talk of Torrres leaving so they might be in for two strikers as well.

How can you see 2 coming in? We have 3 strikers and already NB52 and Sanogo barely played at all in the league between them. Now you think we're going to have 4 in a one man up-top system?

They didn't play much because they were A) injured, and B) pretty terrible footballers.

kamikaze wrote:

has any top team EVER replaced all their strikers in one summer?

Don't need to replace them all. Bendtner is going so he's already a non-factor. Sanogo might go on loan. That leaves us with a new first choice, Giroud as the backup and Drmic as the third choice. Looks like a perfect transfer summer to me. And then Drmic will be bumped up in a year when Giroud leaves.

If Wenger stays I'd be wary of having a decent 3rd choice stiker, chances are we'd see him on the wing regularly so really we'd need someone flexible.

Wengers didn't buy a striker in January because "Sanogo was coming back" from injury, there is no way he will just loan him out, then drop Giroud and bring in two new established strikers, for one spot. At best we can hope he gets an established name like Ozil for the striking position and rest Giroud.

qs! wrote:

If Wenger stays I'd be wary of having a decent 3rd choice stiker, chances are we'd see him on the wing regularly so really we'd need someone flexible.

Apparently Drmic was playing on the wing up until a year ago. I'm not sure how good he really is out there but he seems flexible. Could probably throw him on when we're chasing a lead without having to take the other striker off or alter the shape too much, which is always a plus.