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Is Edinson Cavani Arsenal’s Big Money Purchase This Season?
In the days following the news that Karim Benzema will be staying at the Santiago Bernabeu this season, rumors have emerged from multiple places in Europe that Edinson Cavani is close to a move to Arsenal.
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Reports have emerged once again from a journalist at the Gazzetta Dello Sport that Cavani is close to finalizing a move to London – but that seems very, very unlikely. The news on the block at the moment is that Edinson Cavani is ready to fly into London whenever a phone call is made to take a medical exam before the move is complete.
There are parts to this move that make sense. Cavani has been reported as unsettled in Paris due to being played out of position, and Wenger has stated in the press that he was “willing to gamble” in the transfer market. However, there are many more aspects to this transfer than just the reports from the newspapers.
Cavani has spent most of his time with Le PSG on the left and right wing, second fiddle to Zlatan Ibrahimovic who played in the middle. Brazilian wonderkid Lucas Moura is a naturally right-sided player and he is only getting better, so one can see PSG purchasing a left winger in the long-term and placing Cavani up front. This amount of playing time is necessary for someone like Cavani. He is a talismanic like presence, and needs to be the ‘matador’, like he was in Naples, in order to fulfill his capability.
When he was at Napoli, he was playing as the striker consistently every game, and his goalscoring record was outstanding. In his season prior to joining the French side he scored twenty-nine in only thirty-four appearances in Serie A.
While in Paris, his form has been good, but he has played more of a wide forward role. In two seasons in Ligue 1, he has netted thirty-four goals and created thirty seven chances. As well as in France, he has succeeded in Europe for Les Parisiens, netting ten in sixteen games in the Champions League.
There is no doubt Arsene Wenger would gladly accept Cavani as his first-choice striker, the lack of talent is not the problem in terms of this transfer. Neither is the money issue. The Gunners have financial muscle in the transfer market now that they are no longer paying off debt for their Emirates stadium. As well as that, they have spent little more than ten million pounds in the transfer market this season, meaning there is still a lot money to spend. However, is the money not spent better elsewhere?
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While pundits can say that Arsenal are ready to mount a title challenge, there is a problem that persists in their squad: every other club can see where they are weak. There are positions that have quality, and positions that are clearly lacking, and so teams up and down the league – especially bigger ones – have facility preparing for a fixture with the Gunners, even if their own squad is not up to scratch. Arsenal love to break teams down through passing the ball – so weaker sides drop deeper to make them break the defense down.
While these smaller sides try to defend the Arsenal passing style, they often cannot, which means that the Gunners will be able to rack up twenty wins plus this season. The problems lie in the big games, when the top defenses are able to contend with the Arsenal attackers. Their next step is to attack on the counter, and hit Arsenal where it hurts – in their weaknesses.
The lack of a top quality goalkeeper is no longer a problem, but the defensive midfield and center back positions clearly need improving, and thus the likelihood of Wenger splashing his summer window cash on another striker is low. In his mind, Giroud and Welbeck qualify as suitable options for a title challenge. Whether or not that is true is debatable – what isn’t debatable, however, is that the Gunners need another center half and a new defensive midfielder.
Do not expect Cavani’s name on the team sheet before someone like Krychowiak any time soon. While he is a good player, he is not what Arsenal need at the moment, and Wenger knows that.
(All stats are per whoscored.com and Squawka.com)
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