Hi folks! Cannon Fodder overlord beardyblue here. Based on the comments sections on some of the articles in the last few days, I had an idea for a roundtable that the editorial staff (once I could get them to stop kicking a soccer ball around the TSF jet hangar in an attempt to recreate this classic commercial) seemed responsive to. That question is:

Do you think Arsenal will actually sign a striker this summer?

A few people sounded off and I hope that you all will feel free to post agreements, disagreements, and other thoughts below in the comments. Happy roundtabling!

Theodore Harwood:

Yes, I do. I'm generally not the best at sorting through the silly season's wheat and chaff, but I don't think that even Arsene Wenger will want to go into a new campaign with only Giroud as a viable option leading the attack. If Welbeck were not hurt, my answer would be different. Sanogo isn't going to be an option, and unless we bring Andrei Arshavin back to play the number nine (peak banter era), I have to think someone else comes in, just for depth if nothing else.

bozz:

I don't. Or at least I don't think it'll be a first team striker. I think the club might pick up another Asano type of project but I have a sneaky feeling that Wenger will go into the season with Giroud and Theo as his two up top with another Ramsey on the RW experiment rounding out the attack. Maybe the Lacazette and Morata rumors come true but the prices bandied around seem out of character for the club, especially after they already made one high-profile signing in Xhaka. Maybe a youth product gets called up or recalled in case of emergency but I'm doubtful a household name is coming in this summer.

FBJ0:

We did! Have you guys already forgotten Takuma Asano!??

If we're talking about strikers that will actually be in an Arsenal shirt next season, I think the answer is yes. The top targets seem to be petering out, but I think we will sign another body to play up top. As much as the idea of Alexis Sanchez as a no. 9 appeals to many, I think we've clearly given up on that. Theo Walcott clearly doesn't have the trust of the manager presently. It seems exceedingly unlikely we will go into September with Chuba Akpom or Stephy Mavididi as our second best pure center forward. Even if it means overpaying for a mediocre talent (I'm looking at you, Alexandre Lacazette), I think we'll get something done on the center forward front.

beardyblue:

I firmly do. We’ve shown an ability to find our man and get the job done very efficiently in this window (Xhaka) and its immediate predecessor (Elneny), and I think we’ll show similar efficiency filling another position of need. We went in to try and get this business taken care of nice and early like with Xhaka by triggering Vardy's release clause. He hemmed and hawed and decided to stay at LCFC, which (I think) is because he won't have to fight someone of Giroud's quality for minutes. It would have been nice to have a solid option sewn up early, but it didn't work out. On to the next one. The intent, however, is clearly there; we need someone who can backup and compete with Giroud. Would a so-called "world class" striker be nice? Sure, but I don't think that's happening. I do think that the links to Morata and Lacazette are real and that we will sign one of them if the price is right. If it's not, I think we'll find something else. The intent is there and the window has only just opened. We're probably in for a long summer, but I think we end it having signed a striker.

Shourjya Mookerjee:

Yes, I really think this is the summer Wenger actually splurges and brings us a quality striker. Although the options are relatively scarce, bagging either Morata or Lacazette would be a big-time buy. More importantly, it'll be a wake-up call to the other Premiership teams - one that says Le Prof means business this season. Last year, Wenger put a lot of faith in his players by not signing an outfield player and I think he realized that he went wrong somewhere. Otherwise, he wouldn't have brought in Xhaka so early; in my experience, Wenger's always reserved his business for the latter half of the transfer window. I mean, Özil and Welbeck signed on deadline day. Welbeck was more of a panic buy after Giroud went down for three months, but my point is that Wenger usually takes a back seat early on. Not this year. Ironically enough, this time he's in the market because Welbeck's the one that's injured.