Could Wenger Bid For Cavani In January Window?

Arsene Wenger is more often than not, composed and cool. He gives very little away and tries to be coy towards journalists regarding potential transfer targets. This is why today’s news that he has confirmed Arsenal’s interest in Napoli and Uruguay striker Edinson Cavani is more surprising than it may appear.

Arsenal need firepower. Since selling Robin Van Persie to rivals Manchester United in the summer, it has become blatantly obvious that neither Lukas Podolski, Olivier Giroud nor Gervinho are good enough to replace the Dutchman, for goals or presence. While Theo Walcott has done fantastically well when playing up front this season, he alone can’t carry the burden of an otherwise mostly underperforming team.

Previously, Arsene Wenger might have signed a young striker and attempted to mould him into a top-class striker. But the patience of the fans is running thin and he knows he can’t afford to wait half a decade for another trophy. For these reasons, Cavani sounds like an ideal choice.

The man barely needs an introduction. He is the fulcrum of an extremely efficient and talented Uruguay side and has scored over 60 times in just over 80 appearances since moving to Napoli from Palermo.

And it is obviously due to the quality of the player and possibly the urgency with which he feels he has to act that has prompted Wenger to publicly deny his club have bid for Crystal Palace’s Wilfried Zaha and to instead speak out about the man who has netted 16 goals this season for the Neapolitans. “Cavani is a player that I like. Will he cost a lot of money? That’s for sure. Nobody would deny that. [But] our banker lives just next to me at the moment and he is ready if we find the right player.”

It is quite rare that Wenger would be so forthcoming with his interest in the player, even going so far as to suggest a bid may be made towards the end of the transfer window. “The prices always go up at the start of the transfer market and go down in the last week. Sometimes as well they go up in the last week, but it depends. Most of the time they go down in the last week and you know as well that 90% of transfer activity happens in the last week, if not in the last 48 hours.” (Source; The Guardian)

Cavani has been the subject of interest from most of the world’s top clubs for the last couple of years. He is a man at the peak of his powers; incredibly athletic, strong, pace to burn and good in the air. He’s a leader too, which is much needed at the Emirates. Whether he’d be open to a move to London remains to be seen, he’s shown strong loyalty to Napoli since he joined. However, Arsenal can offer Champions League football and with the funds that his transfer could generate it is hard to see the club resisting an offer if Wenger really did do the unthinkable and make a £20M+ bid.

Wenger’s remarks could just be the signs of a major foray into the transfer market for Arsenal. And at this time, with the squad they have and the troubles that have plagued their season, I can’t think of anyone better than Cavani to revitalise the North London club, can you?

Feel free to follow @WayneFarry on Twitter for more football talk and opinion.

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