Reus is obviously a clear step up compared to Walcott as a player; he is a bonafide complete player, whereas Walcott has some flaws we are all familiar with. However, without looking at any stats at all, I reckon that Walcott matches him pretty well in goals and assists. That is more than reason enough to keep him despite looking to sign Reus.

Walcott, Alexis, Reus and Chambo for two wing spots is top class. The main problem here for me, is that Wenger is really, really poor at rotating sensibly. Play those 4 in a smart way, and there are games enough to keep them all happy.

I'd look to sell Cazorla though for a couple of reasons, despite him having found his mojo again; he is garbo on the flank, his stock is high now and we should get a pretty penny for him, we have better options in his favored position. Hell, with those wingers we'd have 3 better options in the squad in Özil, Alexis and Reus in Santi's only position.

Klaus wrote:

Admittedly, Reus's injury record has been shit lately too. But he has never had any problems in the past.

Looks like most of his injuries have come from taking dirty tackles than him having any other problems.

Theo has 1.5year on his contract left, if there is a chance we could sign Reus I would even if Theo had to leave.

For those who have followed Reus in Germany, did he play in the middle for Gladbach?

Yup. Much like Alexis he can play all across the front line.

"With 19 goals in the opening 20 Ligue 1 fixtures of the campaign, the young France international striker has fired his Lyon side unexpectedly to the summit of Le Championnat. In the process he has outstripped Ibrahimovic even at his most prolific and has found the net more frequently in such a timeframe than any player in the nation's top flight since Nantes' Vahid Halilhodzic in 1984-85."

I see very few reasons to go for Cavani when this player definitely would be cheaper.

Lacazette is not anywhere near that good.

Lacazette's not NapoliCavani-good, but how do we know that he still can play like that?

I'm intrigued to see if he keeps it up. Looks a very interesting player.

Quincy Abeyie wrote:

Lacazette's not NapoliCavani-good, but how do we know that he still can play like that?

It's a risk, but it's not a bigger risk than spending money on an slightly above-average looking guy who's on a hot streak in a weak league.

If Lacazette has looked slightly above average, how do you look good in Ligue 1? Cavani certainly has never had anything close to a hot streak like that in this weak league. Not even in Zlatan's absence.

I'm saying looking good in Ligue 1 is a non-factor when trying to determine a player's ability. The likes of Gignac, Moussa Sow, Nenê and Mamadou Niang have ended up top scorers in the last couple of years. Not a single one of them would force their way into Aston Villa.

When I watch Lacazette, which admittedly isn't that often, I see a guy whose level is Ligue 1. When I watch Cavani I see a world class player who's struggling to show it because he made a bad career move.

I don't see a world class player when I look at Lacazette either. I do however think he looks like Welbeck without Welbeck's weaknesses.

Possibly. I don't want a good Welbeck though, I want a good Cavani. Anything less is just not worth the money and hustle at this point, at least to me. For a good price I'd be willing to bet on Cavani rediscovering that form but I just don't see it with Lacazette.

To me, the difference between the two is similar to the difference between Falcao and a plow horse like Jackson Martinez. The fact that you're Colombian and score a lot of goals for Porto doesn't make you great.

I want a good Cavani too, but I don't think Cavani is that man. I guess that's where we disagree. Of course we want a striker of "good Cavani" quality, but aren't many. Maybe Benzema, Lewandowski, Aguero, Zlatan - all of whom are unavailable.

I agree about Jackson Martinez, he's definitely not the way to go.

It's not about him being top scorer either. I don't think you can just say "Niang was the top scorer, Lacazette is the top scorer, doesn't mean anything." Niang's best ever haul is 18 goals in a season. Sow 25. Nene and Giroud 21. Gignac 24. If Lacazette goes on a dry streak, I'll say you were right. But he has 19 goals half way in the season, it's not really comparable to any of the others. He also scores very different kinds of goals than those guys. I don't know, I just think he will go on to be a really good player, far better than any of our current strikers.

Quincy Abeyie wrote:

It's not about him being top scorer either. I don't think you can just say "Niang was the top scorer, Lacazette is the top scorer, doesn't mean anything."

I'm just saying it doesn't mean anything in itself. My opinion of Lacazette comes from watching him in the odd game. He seems more Jermaine Defoe than Alexis Sanchez.

This is probably going to sound stupid, but I think Sanogo has the best shot at greatness out of our current lot. He's fast, he's built like Paul Bunyan and he's capable of doing outrageous things (and not just in a negative sense). I'm really looking forward to watching him at Palace.

Lacazette seems like a good player, but I would only want him as a replacement for Podolski/Cazorla something like that. Don't think he's the right player to lead the attack. We need to go big there, like Cavani, or just spend the money on a CM and CB.

Klaus wrote:

Quincy Abeyie wrote:

It's not about him being top scorer either. I don't think you can just say "Niang was the top scorer, Lacazette is the top scorer, doesn't mean anything."

This is probably going to sound stupid, but I think Sanogo has the best shot at greatness out of our current lot. He's fast, he's built like Paul Bunyan and he's capable of doing outrageous things (and not just in a negative sense). I'm really looking forward to watching him at Palace.

That's probably true. I really hope we we'll get a class striker before we depend on Sanogo to be that guy, though.

I am intrigue by Lacazette's stats but I haven't watched him this season. When I watched him last season he is Newcastle level so I was surprised he is tearing Ligue 1 apart this season

If Cavani is so good how come his form hasn't displaced those ahead of him?

He hasn't reached the expected level for PSG and lacazette on the other hand has been improving and that shouldn't be discounted.