The shamelessly right of centre Daily Mail today reports that Arsenal will compensate for the impending loss of Robin Van Persie by luring Dortmund striker Robert Lewandowski to the club. Having already clinched deals for Lukas Podolski and Olivier Giroud the Arsenal top brass seem to be dealing with the loss of a great player by purchasing several good ones, in the hope that they can each do part of the job that the Dutchman executed so well in his injury-free periods in North London.
According to the same report, Arsene Wenger still holds out hope of persuading his star striker to stay at the club for another season and beyond, but ‘it is understood’ that Arsenal scouts checked out the form of Lewandowski last season and could be looking firm up their interest with an offer.
There is never any real harm in stockpiling strikers and thus sharing the responsibility for goals in the team. It is obviously devastating news for the club that RVP wants to leave but one of the vital ingredients in football is desire. I’d rather have three new strikers who are fresh and hungry than one who feels he needs a change of scenery. If Arsenal can get £20m for a wantaway 28 year old with a year left on his contract then it simply has to be done.
As for Lewandowski, he’s just 23 but already looks close to the finished article. Simply put, he’s an out and out goal scorer. He scores all sorts of goals and has a brilliant ratio wherever he has been. He averages a goal every other game at club level and has a ratio of 1 goal every 3 games for Poland. He’s not the quickest striker in the world but a lack of raw pace never seemed to hinder the departing Dutchman.
