Jackson Martinez is not the Striker Arsenal Need, and Olivier Giroud Agrees

Jackson Martinez is one player who’s more heavily linked to Arsenal than most. A lot of signs are tying the Colombian hit man to Arsenal, and a lot of factors could see him pushed to the club.

For starters, Squawka reports that FC Porto are in a bit of debt and may have to sell the striker in order to pull themselves out of that debt. While Porto have managed to cling to the striker’s services thus far, the better he gets, the more other clubs will be clamoring to bring him to higher competition and the more likely they will be to bite the bullet and offload him.

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Next, he’s been praised by Arsene Wenger. Anybody who follows transfer rumors knows that if Arsene Wenger says you’re good, it means he’s already bought your plane ticket to North London (that’s a joke, see Edinson Cavani).

Wenger said of Martinez (per the Express): “He could play in the Premier League, Jackson Martinez, because he has the body to make the difference. He uses in a very intelligent way his body, very short backlift and is a very good finisher.”

But Olivier Giroud is less than keen on the transfer rumors, and I’m with him. He said (via ESPNFC)

"When people are talking about a player to come and take your place, you take it personally because it’s your position. I hear people say, ‘They have Giroud and Welbeck but they need a world-class striker.’ Meaning, us, we’re not world-class forwards"

While Giroud claims the rumors have spurred him on, bringing him to the club may not do the same, although I don’t think that Wenger should look to add Martinez to the ever-expanding attacking repertoire of Arsenal.

Martinez will be 29 next season, just three days after Giroud will turn 29. That means you’ll have two aging strikers competing against each other for one spot. With Giroud being a perfectly ample striker for Arsenal’s success, why would we seek to splash the cash to add a luxury when we have plenty of other needs to meet with that 50 million pound budget we have?

Not only that, but I feel like the addition of Martinez would spell the end of Giroud. The Frenchman is happy with the attack Arsenal currently have, and he should be. Alexis Sanchez and he have provided sufficient striking numbers for Arsenal to put up a solid attack day in and day out.

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And Martinez won’t be cheap either. While he’s expected to pull in around 30 million pounds, a bidding war could drive that price up.

If Arsenal are going to spend 30 million on a striker, which, believe it or not, I’m not opposed to, let it be on Paulo Dybala, who at 21 years of age can not only cover Giroud (which is all we currently need) but can also grow into the Arsenal way and become a force in the future.

It may be silly to want a move that essentially ‘appeases’ Olivier Giroud, but I do. Martinez would be a silly investment when we could get a much younger, equally available and more chock full of potential striker in Dybala.

But that’s just my opinion, who would you rather see come to Arsenal?

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