It is a no-brainer, though.

We all want Suarez, Benzema, etc. But, we've wanted that the last couple of summers.. result? Giroud.

It's time to make it happen, no more fucking around. Higuain is clearly better than Giroud and better than any striker we can get this summer.

It doesn't make any sense to wait another year, we've build for the future enough, let's build for present.

Higuain is a better striker than Giroud but is not the type of player that will transform out attack. We need a top class player in the front three and if Higuain is the best striker available I'd rather see us go for a top class winger instead. The likes of Reus, Griezmann, Gotze or even Sterling would be better signings even if that leaves us with Giroud/Theo up front.

Chili Palmer wrote:

I don't get the Europa League argument, it's not only shit sides who participate. Teams like Besiktas play there and Giroud managed 0 goals against them.

Right, I can't let this slip. This is literally text book cherry picking and forcing things around an established agenda.

Giroud played one game against Besiktas, in August when he was not match fit due to WC commitments. During this period, we played Manchester City in the community shield, Crystal Palace at home, Besiktas away, Everton away, Besiktas home and Leicester City away.

Giroud had one start in that period, against Besiktas. In all the other games, Yaya Sanogo started over Giroud because he was clearly not fit or ready for first team action.

Slating Giroud for not scoring in the appearance he had against Besiktas - which was effectively pre-season for him - is very harsh.

And again - this isn't about slating the Europa league or Higuain's record - he's clearly too good for the Europa league and but his champions league record in general is no better than Girouds - even from his time playing for Real Madrid. He tends to average 2-3 goals per CL season.

But the point is, you're looking at total number of goals scored in the season for two players. The league goals tally is relatively even. The difference is therefore in Europe. One striker plays in the Champions league and the other striker plays in the Europa league. So effectively you're saying that Higuain is a no brainer as a goal scorer because he's been freely scoring the Europa league in the past year.

As a result, I don't think Higuain is clearly better than Giroud or indeed any other striker we could get. He's not a top 10 striker in world football. He does come with his own issues and if Wenger chooses to not sign him I would understand.

But that doesn't not mean I want us to go into the new season with the current strikers we have. Like a few others have pointed out, if we can't get a really good striker - I'd rather invest the money in bringing in a top wide forward instead.

I rate Higgy quite a bit. Think he'd be a terrific player for us.

General Mirth wrote:

Chili Palmer wrote:

I don't get the Europa League argument, it's not only shit sides who participate. Teams like Besiktas play there and Giroud managed 0 goals against them.

Right, I can't let this slip. This is literally text book cherry picking and forcing things around an established agenda.

Giroud played one game against Besiktas, in August when he was not match fit due to WC commitments. During this period, we played Manchester City in the community shield, Crystal Palace at home, Besiktas away, Everton away, Besiktas home and Leicester City away.

Giroud had one start in that period, against Besiktas. In all the other games, Yaya Sanogo started over Giroud because he was clearly not fit or ready for first team action.

Slating Giroud for not scoring in the appearance he had against Besiktas - which was effectively pre-season for him - is very harsh.

And again - this isn't about slating the Europa league or Higuain's record - he's clearly too good for the Europa league and but his champions league record in general is no better than Girouds - even from his time playing for Real Madrid. He tends to average 2-3 goals per CL season.

But the point is, you're looking at total number of goals scored in the season for two players. The league goals tally is relatively even. The difference is therefore in Europe. One striker plays in the Champions league and the other striker plays in the Europa league. So effectively you're saying that Higuain is a no brainer as a goal scorer because he's been freely scoring the Europa league in the past year.

As a result, I don't think Higuain is clearly better than Giroud or indeed any other striker we could get. He's not a top 10 striker in world football. He does come with his own issues and if Wenger chooses to not sign him, But that doesn't not mean I want us to go into the new season with the current strikers we have. Like a few others have pointed out, if we can't get a really good striker - I'd rather invest the money in bringing in a top wide forward instead.

Wow, you made a big meal out of that.

I just used them as an example to which teams play in Europa League. Nothing more, nothing less, I wasn't slating Giroud with that, ffs.

You still have to score against them, it's not a cup where only shit teams play, solid teams do as well.

As I also stated, it's not even much about the goal return for me, having a different player than Giroud alone will represent improvement to me, especially when it's a very good player like Higuain, who actually can run, and make defenders shit their pants.

For what it's worth, Higuain scored 4 in the CL the season before this, against us as well.. He scores against anyone, opposition doesn't matter as I mentioned to Oft. now, you're mentioning Higuain's Real CL career, then have a look at his league career there as well, around a goal per start.

Wouldnt say no to Higgy, but not my first choice.

The more I think about it, I think I'd rather give Walcott a fair chance at point next season than signing someone like Higuain who isn't the complete package. The hold up play thing is largely missing from Higuain's game too, and I believe Walcott is capable of scoring at an even better rate than Higuain to better make up for it.

Gooner Tim wrote:

I rate Higgy quite a bit. Think he'd be a terrific player for us.

People are overthinking it. Players that score heavily in other leagues score at Arsenal. Higuaín would be good here, we're always short of self-identified scorers.

People overthinking this, Burns. What's theorist of Sanogo and Welbeck? Strikers who don't score!? And them folks see a striker who consistently outs ores each of our forwards and turn up their noses at him. I wish list Cavani and Benzema all the time, but I also recognize the reality we live in.

Giroud and Alexis are better center forwards than Higuain. He's not an elite player and he doesn't have any room for improvement. There's really no point in spending £30m on him. If we can't find a player like Benzema, then look for a left-sided player and sell Welbeck.

Burnwinter™ wrote:

Gooner Tim wrote:

I rate Higgy quite a bit. Think he'd be a terrific player for us.

People are overthinking it. Players that score heavily in other leagues score at Arsenal. Higuaín would be good here, we're always short of self-identified scorers.

People aren't over thinking anything here. He doesn't really score much more than Giroud. We want someone prolific.

And they don't exist unless you're willing to lay down some serious money.

qs! wrote:

Burnwinter™ wrote:

People are overthinking it. Players that score heavily in other leagues score at Arsenal. Higuaín would be good here, we're always short of self-identified scorers.

People aren't over thinking anything here. He doesn't really score much more than Giroud. We want someone prolific.

His numbers in 2 years are similar to what Giroud does in 3.

I think it's important to look at the level Giroud achieved this season and Higuain at his best isn't better than that. Giroud can't survive a season without support though. I can't imagine any striker in the Premier League doing so. The top strikers, even when playing poorly are important because of their individual ability to create something out of nothing. Strikers like Giroud though are awful when not in form. We definitely need to aim higher than Giroud's best level and if that isn't possible then upgrade on what we have wide. We need to upgrade our forward line though, not have another striker of the same level even if the competition will help the side immensely.

Higuain at his best is a striker starting for Madrid for 3-4 years. Giroud is never going to be at that level.

I would like to go by the level both achieved last season and I don't think there is anything between them. They have different strong qualities that do and can benefit Arsenal but not much to chose between them in my opinion. 

Higuain clearly wasn't at his best last season whereas Giroud had his best season to date, not sure that's a fair comparison, not sure why there's a comparison at all between the two as nobody talked about a Giroud replacement. He's not only better than Giroud but the latter also always plays better when he has more time to rest between games, we'd certainly be much stronger if we added him to the squad.