Arsenal’s search for a top striker continues and they might have found one, or at least seem to be in the running to sign a player that had a lot of expectations when moving to Manchester City a season and a half ago.
Wilfried Bony, the former Swansea star, signed for Manchester City after impressing for the Swans but has mostly played second fiddle to Sergio Aguero. The Ivorian has not been able to show his prowess in front of goal and has really struggled to make an impact at the Etihad.
Rumours suggest that Arsene Wenger might have to stump as much as £30 million to sign the star but bringing the 27-year-old to the Emirates would not get the job done.
Bony scored 25 goals in his debut season for Swansea and had scored nine in the following season before he made his move to City in January and that is where all the good news stopped for the powerful forward.
The Ivorian only managed two more goals in that campaign and last season, despite Sergio Aguero often getting injured, Bony could only muster up eight goals in all games, certainly not good enough for a top striker in the Premier League and certainly not good enough for Arsenal as well.
Taking the help of Squawka.com, it does seem that Olivier Giroud is miles better than Bony, even though the French striker has been criticised by a lot of Arsenal fans over the past couple of seasons. The Frenchman created 1.33 chances every 90 minutes for Arsenal while Bony only chipped in with 0.95 chances in the league campaign last time around.
Even in the goal scoring department, Giroud excelled when compared to Bony with 0.59 goals per 90 compared to 0.29 goals per 90 for the Ivorian superstar. The stats continue to be in favour of Giroud when it comes to shooting accuracy with 54% compared to just 46% for Bony.
Heading might be considered one of Bony’s special traits but Giroud beats him to that as well with 0.26 headed goals per 90 minutes compared to just 0.15 for Bony. The Frenchman wins more aerial duels as well with a 52% success rate compared to 51% for Bony.
Wilfried Bony isn’t the most mobile striker as well, something that Arsenal have needed for a while and it does seem a little weird that Arsenal want to sign him up. The Ivorian might do well for clubs which keep a striker in the box and who does not have to link up well with the rest of the team.
Olivier Giroud is still a better striker than Bony and splashing the cash on the Ivorian doesn’t make sense for the moment. Arsenal should try to get someone who can displace Giroud from the team not act as cover and it seems the search for that player will continue for a bit longer.