Arsenal: Timo Werner could replace Danny Welbeck, not Lacazette

Arsenal are being heavily linked to Timo Werner, which looked bad for Alexandre Lacazette, but what if it’s bad for Danny Welbeck instead?

Just this past weekend, I explored the idea of Arsenal signing Timo Werner to replace Alexandre Lacazette after just one year at the club and my verdict was to go for it. Werner is a 22-year-old speed merchant who knows how to finish.

I wasn’t happy that I was advocating for the removal of Lacazette, but all in the name of progress, right? The closeness of Lacazette (26) and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (28) left me thinking that a greater gap could better accentuate the ‘sheriff, deputy’ motif.

A couple of days ago, however, it hit me that maybe, in the name of even greater progress, Werner could be called upon to replace Danny Welbeck, not Lacazette.

I like Danny Welbeck. It’s impossible not to. No one works harder than him. But there is a distinct lack of technical ability that puts his ceiling much lower than it was several years ago. He is not going to make it as a striker on a top tier team.

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Werner will. And if Werner can be courted to Arsenal with Lacazette and Aubameyang already here, then there are so many reasons to say yes and only one possible reason to say no – an emotional attachment to Welbeck.

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To that, I say get over it. I had to get over selling Giroud in order to land Aubameyang, so you have to get over selling Welbeck, who is far less crucial to the team, in order to land Werner.

Werner would be stepping into a pretty clear third-choice role though, and that’s where Arsene Wenger and whoever else is doing the negotiating, will have to get clever. That is not a shut-and-locked third-place role, because as it stands, neither Aubameyang or Lacazette have shown that they are the second coming of Thierry Henry.

Even still, if a two-striker system can be adopted given the right summer signings, then suddenly, the pertinence of Werner skyrockets beyond just a third-choice striker. And, if you want to adapt a Wenger mentality for a second, Werner does have experience playing on the wings and it could give him a stage to make his case regarding a future at striker.

I love the idea of bringing Werner to Arsenal and you should to. He is the future of the German national team and he has had a joyride scoring goals with a very up-and-down RB Leipzig side.

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Plus, anything that pushes Wenger towards a two-striker set gets me all jazzed up, and this would seem to do that.

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