Is Carlos Bacca the solution for Arsenal?

Arsenal have been linked with what seems to be every striker in Europe now and today’s piece comes from the Daily Telegraph who are reporting that Arsenal are hoping to grab the signing of Carlos Bacca. Arsenal are supposedly interested in speaking to AC Milan before West Ham make a deal for the frontman.

Carlos Bacca is a new name we can add to the list, joining the likes of Morata, Draxler, Lacazette and Higuain in being strikers that we are currently linked with, although the latter seems to be off limits now due to the increasingly high price it would take to sign the Argentinean. Instead Arsenal have supposedly turned their attention to another South American star Carlos Bacca, who is a full Columbian international and therefore a teammate of Arsenal man David Ospina.

Bacca has been with AC Milan for only a single year after signing from Spanish side Sevilla last summer. Bacca had an impressive first year in Italy, whilst he was also not stranger to La Liga in Spain. It proves that he has been able to play his trade to a consistent level in a number of different leagues and styles of play, but could Arsenal be the next side to give the striker a fresh challenge?

With negotiations for Higuain running into trouble, whilst we seem to have hit the wall on Morata, Lacazette and Draxler, Arsene Wenger may be hoping that things move a little smoother when it comes to Carlos Bacca. In my opinion Bacca does offer us the qualities up front that we do lack in Giroud, notably his pace and what he can do with his back to goal. Bacca can build play up, be the creator and provider, as well as put himself in the right position, something which Wenger cannot seem to get consistently out of Giroud. In terms of actual finishing ability and quality, he trumps Giroud on stats, but is Bacca competition for the Frenchman or is he the player we want as an ‘upgrade’ and replacement of Giroud? Bacca does offer different qualities to our French striker and the Columbian international is a very good player, scoring 18 league goals last term.

But is Bacca really the type of striker that we are holding out for? At 29 years old, he’s in exactly the same position as Jamie Vardy and Arsenal fans berated the idea of investing so much into a player that was soon to hit thirty, so can we really see this story having any more developments?

The problem that I can see is that this story will probably be going the same way as all the others, leading towards eventual disappointment in the transfer window. Arsene Wenger should commit to a striker that we can devote all our efforts into signing, a player that we know will work well in the Arsenal style and will be a worthwhile investment. Only then we may begin to see the formation of a side likely to challenge for the league.