Just a few days back it was reported that Arsenal could be after a striker in January after Danny Welbeck’s season-ending injury. Amidst this, the Gunners were linked with a move for AS Roma striker Patrik Shichk who has found it hard to get going in the Serie A.
Reports suggested that the London club could land the Czech Republic striker on a six-month loan as a short-term cover for Welbeck. However, Roma’s director of football, Monchi made it clear that their summer signing is going nowhere on loan.
Monchi was quoted as saying,”Schick? We have confidence in him, he won’t leave on loan.” The 22-year-old striker has found it tough to get going after the injuries and competition with Edin Dzeko hasn’t helped him either in getting regular playing time. However, his case would have been similar at the Emirates as well as Unai Emery is likely going to prefer Pierre Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette as first choice options.
Reports also said that Arsenal could land the player in a swap deal with Aaron Ramsey who is going to leave the Emirates next year. It is yet not clear though whether his departure would happen in January or the midfielder would see out his contract by staying until the summer.
Schick would have been a handy backup option to have as we believe he has everything to his game which a striker needs. Injuries off late and fitness issue has taken his form away, but with regular game time, he could be back at his best. However, moving to Arsenal wouldn’t have been too bright an idea as the striker is unlikely to get regular game time when such established and proven strikers are available to the Gunners.
It is clear that Emery needs to fill the void left by Welbeck and maybe a permanent signing of a backup striker in January won’t be a bad idea. The English forward was already in the final year of his deal, and it was likely that he wasn’t going to be offered a new contract at the Emirates. So signing someone permanently in January would make sense.
As Monchi indicated Schick is too good a player to be allowed to leave just after six months and staying in Italy is probably going to be better for his overall development instead of moving to England. Losing out on him shouldn’t be too big a blow for Emery and Arsenal as anyway the transfer looked unlikely to happen when the reports came out. The club needs to identify a new target in January and with Europa League also to contest for, adding depth in the attacking lines is a necessity for the Arsenal manager.
