• Loss of Robin van Persie forces Arsenal manager's
hand
• Could move for Milan's Klaas-Jan Huntelaar
Arsène Wenger is planning to buy a striker in
January to replace the injured Robin Van Persie.
Arsène Wenger
has admitted that Robin van Persie's long-term ankle injury
will force him to search for a replacement striker during the
January transfer
window. The Arsenal
manager , who is generally wary of the mid-season window,
associating it with desperate measures, said he would only do
business if any deal were viable. But for the first time since the
full extent of Van Persie's injury became clear, he conceded that
it had affected his thinking.
"It has to," he said. "It has to because I didn't feel we were
in the need to buy anybody, but we will be out on the market, that
is for sure. But we will only make a decision if it suits us."
Wenger's words will be welcomed by many of the club's supporters
who saw him sell Emmanuel Adebayor to Manchester City over the
summer but choose not to replace him. He instead put his faith in
Van Persie, Nicklas Bendtner, Eduardo da Silva and Carlos Vela. All
four, though, have suffered injuries, with Van Persie's the most
demoralising.
Van Persie was hurt while playing for Holland against Italy last
month following a challenge from Giorgio Chiellini, the motives of
which Wenger has now questioned. "I watched the tackle of Chiellini
again; it looked anonymous but it's not as anonymous as it looks at
the start and in between [the Holland forward] Dirk Kuyt has come
out and said that they were kicked by the Italians," Wenger said.
"In such an important season for us we lose players in friendlies
on tackles like that and it is really difficult to accept."
Chiellini has denied any malicious intent.
Van Persie was diagnosed by the Dutch FA's doctors to have
suffered a partial ligament tear but after further tests by
Arsenal's medics, the ligaments were revealed to have been severed.
He has been ruled out for five months, virtually the remainder of
the domestic season.
Bendtner, who has not played since the beginning of last month
because of groin surgery, is not expected to return until Christmas
at the earliest.
Wenger's interest in the Bordeaux striker Marouane Chamakh is
well documented, although a January deal appears unlikely. His
other targets include André-Pierre Gignac of Toulouse, Milan's
Klaas-Jan Huntelaar and Mario Balotelli of Internazionale.
Sampdoria's Giampaolo Pazzini is another Serie A striker on
Wenger's radar.
Arsenal face Manchester City at Eastlands in the Carling Cup quarter-final tonight and
because of injuries, Wenger's team will be even more experimental
than that which beat Liverpool in the previous round. The
17-year-old midfielder Jack Wilshere, a loan target for Celtic,
will start.
