With the January transfer window just around the corner, league leaders Arsenal will be looking to strengthen their squad in order to end their 8 year trophy drought. The North London club have been on top of their game so far this season with a line of brilliant performances; if they are to keep the form that they are on they’ll be looking to sign one or two players in the transfer window.
Arsenal are in desperate need of a striker, and with Bendtner set to leave the club Giroud will be the only option available. Giroud is unfortunately at the risk of injuries; and who will Arsenal turn to if that is to happen? The Gunners require a well established striker that is a prolific goal-scorer and has the experience to contribute to their title challenge too. In the summer Arsenal were heavily linked to Liverpool’s star striker Luis Suarez who is doing brilliant this season scoring 17 goals for The Reds. Arsène Wenger offered Liverpool £40 million plus £1 for Suárez in order to activate his buy-out clause of £40m in which Liverpool refused to sell him to a rival club and they were adamant that it would not trigger release of Europe’s deadliest striker.
Swansea striker Michu has also grabbed the attention of Arsenal by admitting that he wants to play Champions League football. Michu has been at his best for Swansea since joining them from Rayo Vallecano in the summer of 2012 and has recently been linked with a move away from Swansea to Liverpool. The Reds are the club that are interested in Michu the most and will have a tough job to qualify for the Champions League in order to convince the Spaniard to join them. However, Arsenal were linked with the Spaniard during the summer but no offer was made, and it’s believed that they’re still interested in luring him to the Emirates. Michu was considered as last seasons bargain of the season scoirng 18 goals in the league for Swansea and pulling off a back to back performances which made people recognise his talent. The Swansea star netted 18 goals last season and ended the campagin as the 5th top goal scorer behind the likes of Bale, Robin Van Persie and Suarez. Arsene Wenger was made aware of Michu's abilities as he scored 2 goals in 2 minutes against the Gunners in which Swansea won 2-0 at the Emirates.
The league leaders are also strongly linked to Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema who joined the La Liga giants from Lyon in 2009 for a reported fee of £35.8m (€41m). Benzema has only managed to score 10 goals in 21 appearances for Los Blancos. Benzema who was labelled as the next "Zinedine Zidane" has not lived upto his expectations during his spell at Real Madrid. In the 2008/2009 Karim finished the season with 17 goals in Ligue 1 making him the 2nd top goal scorer 7 goals behind Gignac. With the signing of Gareth Bale from Tottenham and the potential signing of Suarez or Aguero the 25 year old may be left on the bench and could possibly leave Madrid with Arsenal on the radar. The French international won't have to worry about settling into the club with fellow countrymen Bacary Sagna, Olivier Giroud and Laurent Koscielny at the club. With the departure of Özil in the summer from Real Madrid, could his fellow Madrid team mate join him at the Emirates? However, it has been reported that Real Madrid are set to offer £20m and Karim Benzema to sign the best striker of the Premier League. With Liverpool sitting comfortably in 2nd after annihilating Tottenham at White Hart Lane 5-0 they look to end the campaign in the top 4 for a Champions League spot to keep their Suarez their prized asset at Anfield.
Players linked with Arsenal
Antoine Griezmann - Real Sociedad
Luis Suárez - Liverpool
Karim Benzema - Real Madrid
Kevin Volland - Hoffenheim
Fernando Llorente - Juventus
Marco Reus - Borussia Dortmund