Arsenal: Odsonne Edouard vs Luka Jovic the crucial debate

Arsenal needs a new, young striker to hold this attack together and the debate is whether that striker should be Luka Jovic or Odsonne Edouard.

Arsenal‘s striker situation is about to get a lot more interesting depending on how (or if) this season ends. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexander Lacazette could both be headed for the exit to fund a massive summer overhaul, which will leave the Gunners reinvesting in youth as well as, hopefully, a new striker. And right now, that is either Odsonne Edouard or Luka Jovic.

These are two fantastic options, both of which will command a hefty fee, but both of them will be easily coverable by an Aubameyang or Lacazette sale. So both are on the table.

Odsonne Edouard, coming from Celtic, has been growing exponentially over the past three years. More goals every single year and it’s amazing that he’s not a bigger deal than he is in the transfer spectrum.

Luka Jovic, coming from Real Madrid’s bench, having faded since joining the La Liga giants. Jovic had his big breakout year at Eintracht Frankfurt and has been struggling to get back to that promising form again.

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Both have their merits, the debate is just which one fits better with what we’re looking for and, by extension, who they are replacing. For instance, Luka Jovic has a tremendous touch. He’s excellent at utilizing his physicality and holding up play, very similar to Alexandre Lacazette. He’s a great finisher if given the chance, but he’s a presence striker. The kind of guy that commands the box.

Edouard is a different type. He’s a mover and shaker, more like Aubameyang, and that can lead to some loose possession and possession loss. But that’s okay because of the endproduct that he keeps delivering in increasing increments every single year. So while he is not a proven striker, he’s much less of a risk than Jovic, who has been frustrated for a couple of years now.

Honestly what it looks like is Edouard would replace Aubameyang and Jovic would replace Lacazette. The playing styles parallel well enough to make this debate a matter of who do you most want to replace and, oh yeah, where does Eddie Nketiah fit into the picture? Nketiah is more of an Aubameyang type, which could mean that adding Jovic makes more sense to form a duo.

But that’s even assuming that we want to directly replace Auba and Laca stat for stat. What I determine this debate on is what we are most likely to miss, and to me, that’s the presence up top. And that means that, hard as it is to choose one or the other, my vote falls on Jovic.