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Wenger ‘Accelerates Striker Search’ Following Walcott Injury

By on January 9, 2014

Arsene Wenger has told Arsenal.com that the injury to Theo Walcott has accelerated his desire to bring in a new striker this month.

Theo was cruelly ruled out for the rest of the season earlier this week after rupturing a cruciate ligament in his left knee during the final stages of Saturday’s 2-0 FA Cup win over Tottenham.

The 24-year-old put in an excellent shift up front with both Olivier Giroud and Nicklas Bendtner out injured, and many felt he had now proved he was capable of playing the striker role when required.

However, the news came on Monday that Walcott would miss the rest of the season and with Bendtner also out for the best part of a month, Wenger has admitted the injuries have affected his desire to sign a new striker in January but claims the market is very difficult.

He told Arsenal.com:

“[Walcott’s injury] has accelerated speculation first and of course my desire as well – but let’s not forget about Serge Gnabry who can play in the first team,”

“We have Oxlade-Chamberlain back and we have many other players who can play on the flanks so to find better solutions than what we have internally will not be easy.

“Up front we lose Theo as a potential central forward and that’s maybe where we have to look outside. But we hopefully have Bendtner back in three weeks. We are there for the opportunities but it’s very difficult at the moment.”

I’m glad to hear Wenger admitting we need a striker following the Walcott injury. I think we have sufficient cover on the right wing, particularly if Gnabry continues to impress.

However, we are certainly short of options up top so hopefully the boss can get some business done as soon as possible as we have some HUGE fixtures coming up in February and ideally any new signing will get a couple of weeks to adapt to the team.

The longer we leave it the less time they’ll have to get used to our style of play and therefore they will have less chance of making an impact when we face the likes of Liverpool and Manchester United in early February.

What striker do you think we should sign?