Arsenal has been strongly linked with a move in the vicinity of 19 million pounds for the Real Madrid striker Gonzalo Higuain who is expected to depart the Spanish giants in the summer after spending 6 years at the Santiago Bernebeu. The Argentine and French national was previously tracked by Arsene Wenger when he was at Atletico River Plate, an Argetine football club based near Buenos Aires.
Higuain has been a consistent goal scoring threat during his stint with Real and this makes him an attractive option for Wenger to bring to the Emirates. A quick look at the statistics below shows that he has netted often with the Los Blancos even while playing alongside their best player in Cristiano Ronaldo. With the recent emergence of Karim Benzema as the primary option ahead of Higuain at Real Madrid, the striker desperately needs to move out to get regular first team play. The 6 foot forward also has a good conversion rate while playing for his national team and is affectionately called as Pipita by his club teammates.
| Season | La Liga games played | Goals Scored |
| 2008?09 | 34 | 22 |
| 2009?10 | 32 | 27 |
| 2010?11 | 17 | 10 |
| 2011?12 | 35 | 22 |
| 2012?13 | 28 | 15 |
Table 1 - Higuain - goals scored in the La Liga over the last 5 seasons
A quick finisher who is known his speed in the last third of the pitch and his knack for scoring important goals, Higuain could quickly establish himself at the Emirates and become a fan favourite. He has also almost remained injury free during the last six years expect for a two month stint in 2011 but that was for a surgery on the advice of the club?s medical staff for a hernia.
Higuain might be lacking the level of ruthlessness that can make a striker dangerous near the goal line but he is hovering around the prime of his career and still has age (he turns 26 this December) on his side. With his style of play he could integrate perfectly into the Premier League but whether he could be counted on to make a goal scoring impact in the magnitude of his compatriot, ala Carlos Tevez, will only be known with time. Do you think signing him would benefit the Gunners?
Source: DSG
Source: DSG