Five Realistic Signings Who May Be Ideal Targets to Fill Arsenal Striker Void

A collection of attacking talent who may well be on Arsene Wenger’s Emirates Stadium radar.

Arsene Wenger spoke at length during the January transfer window about the need to beef up his attacking options but a combination of factors, including the good form shown by Olivier Giroud and Theo Walcott in the weeks leading upto and including the period that the window was open, led to the North London club not bringing in a player to fill the void.

Here are five realistic targets the Gunners could consider making a move for in the summer.

Christian Benteke (Aston Villa)

Powerful Belgian forward has been the one bright spark of a dire season at Villa Park but there is growing speculation that the Midlands club will struggle to keep hold of the former Genk man and he may be an ideal target for Arsene Wenger as he scouts around for a new striker signing.

The 22 year old Aston Villa man started the season steadily enough but has exploded into life over recent weeks and his five goals in his last four Premier League games have helped to pull Paul Lambert’s side out of the relegation zone.

Aston Villa paid £7m for Benteke and will probably demand a fee around double that if they are to entertain the idea of selling the young marksman.

Having already proved himself in the English top tier there is every chance that he could interest Wenger and a lot could well depend on whether Aston Villa beat the drop or not, failing to do so would seemingly make his sale all the more likely.

David Villa (Barcelona)

The 31 year old marksman Villa will have just a year to run on his contract come the summer and the Gunners may then have more of a chance of persuading the Catalan club to sell and are readying a £14m bid for the former Valencia striker.

Barcelona boss Tito Vilanova has used David Villa fairly sparingly, opting in the main to use the likes of Alexis Sanchez and Pedro over Spain’s record international goal-scorer, this hasn’t blunted the striker’s edge though.

David Villa has still netted ten goals in all competitions despite making just 12 starts and Wenger clearly feels that despite his age the La Liga man could be a great asset to add to his Arsenal strike-force.

Perhaps Villa could be a short term options to consider.

Edin Dzeko (Man City)

Another proven Premier League goal-scorer and perhaps a player who could be the ideal target man to spearhead the Arsenal attack.

The Gunners have reportedly joined Borussia Dortmund in the race to sign the Bosnian, who may well be available this summer.

Roberto Mancini has never seen Dzeko as a nailed on first choice starter and even though Mario Balotelli has left for AC Milan there is still a chance that the former Wolfsburg man will look to leave in the summer.

Dzeko has managed a very decent return of 38 goals in 97 appearances since his £27m move to Man City, a strike rate that is all the more impressive when you consider 41 of those appearances came from the bench.

Stevan Jovetic (Fiorentina)

Jovetic has impressed at Fiorentina over the past 18 months, during which time he has been converted into a central striking weapon, netting 14 goals in 27 games last term and has another nine to his name thus far this term.

The 23 year old has consistently been linked with a move to Arsenal and is very much a ‘Wenger-Style’ signing. Comfortable on the ball, adaptable and has the potential to be a big name.

Fiorentina may well ask for a big fee for the Montenegro international and any successful move by Arsenal will require them to smash their club transfer record, will Wenger be willing to do so?

Michu (Swansea City)

Cost Swansea City just £1.6m and has been in excellent form from the moment his Premier League career got off the ground.

The 26 year old has scored 15 goals in 25 Premier League starts and has been especially impressive when taking on Arsenal with Arsene Wenger seeing first hand just what the Spaniard is capable of.

Michu has scored three times against Arsenal this season and is another adaptable forward who can play up front in a central striking role as well as in a supporting role, which may well be just where Wenger could choose to use the former Rayo Vallecano man.

An offer of £10m plus may well be one that the South Wales side could struggle to turn down, especially if Michu was to push for a Liberty Stadium exit.

Valencia 1-2 PSG: Champions League Highlights A comfortable PSG win was tempered by the late sending off of Zlatan Ibrahimovic

A comfortable PSG win was tempered by the late sending off of Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

Paris Saint-Germain will take a 2-1 lead into the second leg of their Champions League last-16 tie against Valencia, but a dramatic late turn of events handed the Spanish side a lifeline.

Going into the 90th minute here at the Mestalla on Tuesday, the French league leaders appeared in cruise control thanks to first-half goals from Ezequiel Lavezzi and Javier Pastore.

However, French international centre-back Adil Rami found the net in the final minute to keep Valencia in the tie, before PSG had Zlatan Ibrahimovic controversially sent-off for a studs-up challenge on Andres Guardado.

The Swede, who has been criticised in the past for failing to produce his very best in the Champions League knockout stages, will now miss the return leg at the Parc des Princes next month, but at least PSG will have a lead to defend in that game.

Despite the ending, for much of the evening this was a classic away European performance from the French league leaders, as Carlo Ancelotti’s side ceded possession to their hosts but were always a threat on the counter-attack.

History suggested that this would be a major test for PSG, who were playing a knockout tie in Europe’s top club competition for the first time since 1995.

Since then, Valencia had reached two Champions League finals, and had never been beaten by French opposition at their Mestalla home.

However, PSG backed by massive investment from their Qatari owners are emerging as a major continental force, and they travelled to Spain with their confidence buoyed by a run of 12 matches without defeat in all competitions.

Valencia have considerably improved since Ernesto Valverde took over as coach two months ago, and they had held Barcelona to a 1-1 draw in their last home outing.

However, they got off to a nightmare start to this game, with the lively Lucas Moura crashing a shot from 25 yards off the post as a prelude to the visitors’ opening goal.

Lavezzi has been outstanding during PSG’s superb recent run, and it was no great surprise to see the Argentine break the deadlock as he played a lovely one-two with Pastore before sending in a shot that Vicente Guaita in the home goal really should have kept out.

PSG allowed Valencia to dominate possession after that, but they were always a menace on the break, especially down the home side’s left, where the attack-minded Guardado had been forced to fill in for the injured Aly Cissokho and Jeremy Mathieu.

Lucas forced a save from Guaita at the end of a quick break, and Pastore was also denied after again combining neatly with Pastore, while all Valencia could offer in return was a Jonas header that passed high over the bar.

They then fell further behind when Lucas turned the unfortunate Guardado inside-out on the right flank before picking out Pastore, whose first-time shot was too good for Guaita.

Valverde made a double change at half-time, with Sergio Canales and Nelson Valdez replacing Ever Banega and Jonas, but the pattern of the game remained much the same.

The Spanish side had plenty of the ball, but PSG came closest to scoring again, with Lavezzi squandering a glorious chance after being picked out by a brilliant Marco Verratti pass.

Ibrahimovic almost netted a classy third goal after a one-two with substitute Clement Chantome, who then saw his follow-up effort disallowed for offside.

But then Valencia finally found a route back into the contest as Rami appeared unmarked in the area to head home a trademark dead-ball delivery from Tino Costa before Ibrahimovic was given his marching orders

Celtic 0-3 Juventus: Champions League Highlights

Juventus eased past a battling Celtic side to all but book their place in Champions League Quarter Finals.

Juventus all but clinched their place in the last eight of the Champions League after a clinical display from the Italian champions earned them a 3-0 win over Celtic at Parkhead here on Tuesday.

Celtic manager Neil Lennon surprised everyone before kick-off as he handed Efe Ambrose a starting place despite the defender playing in Nigeria’s Africa Cup of Nations final win over Burkina Faso on Sunday.

But the gamble went horribly wrong with the defender at fault for two of Juve’s deadly away goals.

Celtic got off to a nightmare start when Ambrose was caught out by the flight of Federico Peluso’s long ball in the third minute, allowing Alessandro Matri to get in behind him and fire the ball over the line despite Kelvin Wilson’s desperate attempted clearance on the line.

The Hoops then showed the intensity they had produced to pick up a famous win over Barcelona in the group stages as they laid siege to the Juve goal, with Victor Wanyama and Kris Commons both testing Gianluigi Buffon with strikes.

But the Italians weathered the storm and increased their lead in the 77th minute when Marchisio smashed past a shot past Fraser Forster.

Mirko Vucinic finished low through Forster’s legs in the 83rd minute after Ambrose had been caught in possession by Marchisio as Juventus ended any remaining Celtic hopes.

Things could have been different for the home side, however.

Celtic had forced a corner within 60 seconds as Buffon pushed a thunderous strike from Wanyama round the post, and Ambrose then tried his luck with a long-range strike that went harmlessly wide as the hosts swarmed forward in the early stages.

But their good work quickly came undone as a lapse of concentration from Ambrose allowed Matri to give Juve a third-minute lead.

Celtic rallied after the goal and Buffon had to be alert to stop a fiercely-drilled Wanyama strike from 25 yards.

The SPL leaders continued to press forward and Kris Commons was inches away from an audacious equaliser in the 28th minute when his overhead kick from Mikael Lustig’s cross bounced just wide with Buffon beaten.

Ambrose missed a golden chance to atone for his lapse at the Juve goal at the hour mark when Charlie Mulgrew’s cross from the left found him lurking in the box, but the Nigerian sent his weak header bouncing into the turf and straight to the grateful Buffon.

Juventus looked content to defend deep and hit Celtic on the counter-attack but they served the home side a warning in the 66th minute when Vucinic connected perfectly with a cross from the left and Wilson brilliantly blocked his shot in the six-yard box.

The home side didn’t heed the warning, though, and Juventus grabbed a killer second with a well-worked goal.

Matri flicked a pass into the path of Marchisio, who cut inside Scott Brown and smashed a shot beyond Forster at his near post.

Ambrose had only arrived back in Glasgow from South Africa early on Tuesday morning, but the Celtic fans must have been wishing he had missed his flight when he was again at fault as the visitors landed a knock-out blow.

Marchisio caught the defender in possession and played an excellent through ball to Vucinic, who clipped the ball through the legs of the helpless Forster.

Goodison Park boss could replace Roberto Mancini at the Etihad Stadium.

Old Trafford crowd favourite sets sights on getting manager’s job.

Former Manchester United striker Ole Gunnar Solksjaer has set his sights on becoming manager at Old Trafford and succeeding Sir Alex Ferguson.

fanatix tickets- Sunderland vs Manchester United tickets are on sale from £27 for the match on March 30th at the Stadium of Light.

Solksjaer is a crowd favourite at Old Trafford having spent 11 years at the club as a player, a time which included scoring the winning goal in 1999 Champions League final, and then a period as reserve team manager.

The man known as the ‘Baby Faced Assassin’ has subsequently proven to be a huge success as manager of Molde in his native Norway having guided the club to back-to-back titles in the Tippeligaen in his first two season in charge.

He was set to be appointed as Aston Villa manager in the summer having been given permission to talk the Villa Park club, but turned the job down in favour of staying with Molde and continuing his development.

The 39-year-old has, however, admitted that he dreams of returning to Manchester United and taking charge of the club, who paid just £1.5million to buy him from Molde as a player back in 1996, when Ferguson calls time on his career.

“Maybe it sounds stupid but my dream is to manage United,” he is quoted as saying by The Sun. “But I am not saying it is going to happen.

“I worked with Alex Ferguson for 15 seasons as a player and then as reserve-team coach. His methodology has influenced my philosophy. Almost everything I know I learnt from Sir Alex. Both of us believe in ourselves, we always want to win and we put our faith in youngsters and work hard.”

He added: “To succeed Sir Alex you need to have a strong personality and be a winner.”

Goodison Park boss could replace Roberto Mancini at the Etihad Stadium.

Goodison Park boss could replace Roberto Mancini at the Etihad Stadium.

Manchester City are considering appointing Everton boss David Moyes as their new manager should Roberto Mancini be dismissed at the Etihad Stadium.

Mancini’s future came under even more scrutiny after Manchester City’s limp defeat at Southampton on Saturday, which all but ended their hopes of retaining the Premier League title they won last season.

And, according to the Sunday Mirror, Moyes has emerged as a serious candidate to take over the reins from Mancini at the Etihad Stadium if the Italian is axed in the summer.

Moyes, who is also under consideration for the Chelsea manager’s job – a decision on which is likely to be made in the summer, has yet to sign an extension to his contract at Everton which is due to expire in the summer.  

He is attempting to guide Everton into the Champions League by securing a top-four finish, which would go a long way to persuading him to sign a new deal at Goodison Park.

The Scot, meanwhile, has revealed that he was interviewed for the position as assistant to Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United in 1999 but missed out on the job to Steve McClaren and instead continued in his position in charge of Preston.

“I met Fergie in the year they won the Champions League,” Moyes said in the Mail on Sunday. “He asked me to have a cup of tea with him. He was looking for an assistant. I met him but he gave the job to (Steve) McClaren.

“I was fine with that because I was enjoying what I was doing at Preston, but if that opportunity had come I wouldn’t have turned it down. Maybe it was a good decision not to do it. They went on to win the European Cup and have been very successful since but I’m happy with the way it’s worked out for me.”