Arsenal: Jamie Vardy Proves Wenger Must Sign Striker

Arsenal may be handing the reigns to Chuba Akpom to start the season, but isn’t this ‘faith’ in the squad betrayed by Wenger’s attempts to land Jamie Vardy?

We have heard Arsene Wenger say many times before that he prefers to invest in faith and loyalty within Arsenal rather than shoveling out cash on every player with a pulse. I have zero qualms with that philosophy. I think we would all love to see more Arsenal players coming up through the pipeline to decrease our reliance on outside signings.

Not to mention it would make transfer windows a bit less gruesome when nothing goes our way.

It’s one of the things that makes Arsenal special. Very few managers would have stuck with Ramsey or Giroud, or even Ozil, as long as they did, but Wenger does because he invests in that faith and loyalty.

Therefore investing in Wenger’s faith in Akpom and Walcott should not come as any great shock. Here we have a young striker that was raised within the Arsenal system who is ready to make a first team impact teamed up with the longest-tenured Arsenal man, Theo Walcott. These two define that ‘faith’ and ‘loyalty’.

But then again, that whole scheme was busted early in the transfer window when Arsene Wenger attempted to sign Jamie Vardy. It completely blew Wenger’s cover and now everyone out there knows that he was of the mind that Arsenal needed a new striker; that the two we are now debating between for opening day starter weren’t seen as capable enough of holding down the fort by Wenger.

Which means that if we go into the season without having signed another striker, then we are going in with a team that Wenger wished he could have upgraded more, but chose not to due to what we have to assume is money.

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This isn’t a situation Wenger should want to be in. Not by a long shot. All of those people out there that claim that Wenger is a penny-pincher who is disconnected from the fans and is lacking in any sense of urgency thanks to his cushy set-up will have all the justification they have ever needed.

Normally, Wenger could be simply defended by a shoddy transfer market or ridiculous prices, but, by his own admission, price is not an obstacle when the right player is found. He can’t hide behind that thin veil anymore because it has been torn to shreds. Not only by his pursuit of Vardy but by all the pre-transfer window proclamations what Wenger had the financial flexibility to spend whatever he wanted.

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For Wenger’s sake, I truly hope he signs a striker. While waiting and seeing what Akpom can do could be beneficial, waiting until the last minute to line up a replacement sure isn’t. Although the window isn’t closing for another month and a half, Wenger has to be aware of how this makes him look and how dire it is to nab a striker now rather than wait and pick at the leftovers.

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