Arsenal: Why Jamie Vardy Trumps Ibrahimovic

Arsenal look to be getting Jamie Vardy, while Manchester United look to be getting Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Did the Gunners actually win this round too?

Not long ago I penned an article establishing that Arsenal won the transfer round when comparing the acquisition of Granit Xhaka and the acquisition of Ilkay Gundogan. Price factored into it, but in the end, the perks and fit of one outweighed the other.

Now I’m here to tell you why Arsenal won this round as well. As the underdogs, no less. With the Gunners acquiring Jamie Vardy (supposedly) and Manchester United acquiring the Swedish Behemoth, Zlatan Ibrahimovic (again, supposedly), it seems like the victor would be obvious. Ibra is free, Vardy is going to cost a minimum of £20m. So victory Manchester United, right?

Wrong. Again, we have to look at it from every angle that we looked at the Xhaka/Gundogan transfer from.

First, price. United win on the surface. But when you get down to contracts, that’s when it gets muddy. Zlatan is going to cost £500,000 a week, whereas Vardy will cost just over £100,000. In the long run, that extra contract cash will give Arsenal the ability to spring for pay raises for Ozil and Alexis, two players that deserve more money and probably need it to keep them around. If Arsenal had gone for Zlatan and forked that much money out for him, kiss Ozil and Alexis goodbye.

Then there is the matter of fit. There is no doubting that Zlatan will probably fit anywhere he goes. He is Zlatan after all. But Zlatan and Jose are their for one reason – personal glory. They are going to keep the youngsters sidelined and they really aren’t going to care. At least that’s what history would suggest.

Vardy, meanwhile, is a complimentary striker that will not disrupt the flow of Arsenal’s already versatile offense. Vardy isn’t a ‘give me the ball and let me work’ kind of guy. He fits into the flow of the offense, and what a flow Arsenal have developed. With Ozil, Alexis and whoever else suits up out wide, Arsenal already have the makings of a beautiful attack. Throw in Zlatan, someone who anoints himself commander-in-chief, and watch all that hard work turn into feeding the Swede the ball.

Zlatan does not adjust for you. You adjust for Zlatan. That’s not necessarily a problem, but when he has spent his entire international life being the centerpiece of Sweden and everywhere he goes caters to his needs – except Barcelona, and that’s why he left so quickly – it’s the superstar treatment, and it’s something Arsenal do not participate in.

More from Pain in the Arsenal

Vardy fits exactly in with what Arsenal needed. He fits the gap that Theo Walcott was supposed to fill and it makes him the perfect fit to compliment Giroud. And that is all Giroud ever needed to keep him atop his game. He didn’t need a £2m a month striker to get in the way.

Then there is the matter of it being the Premier League. Zlatan is one of the greatest strikers we have ever seen and will ever see. But the Premier League is a different ball game. At 34 years of age, Zlatan is no longer the sprightly young Swede that has dominated every stage that isn’t the Premier League.

Speaking from as unbiased an angle as possible, I don’t see Zlatan being too keen to tussle in the Europa League and I wouldn’t be surprised to see the wear and tear of of these tightly knit Premier League defenses get to him. Zlatan isn’t used to stern opposition every week. It can effect even the best.

Next: Vardy A Departure From The Norm

Arsene Wenger knows what his team needs. He’s been here for twenty years. I may have been on the pro-Zlatan bandwagon previously, but the more thought I put into it, the more I realized that to add Zlatan is like hitting the reset. It forces the team to build around the new man. Arsenal do not need that. They need someone to fit into their flow and plug one of the few holes in the ship. Vardy does just that. Zlatan would have started building a new ship altogether.

Home/Arsenal Transfer Rumours