Who to Buy in January?

So this morning on Arsenal.com Arsene Wenger was quoted as saying that we're currently in a good financial situation compared to other clubs, and if we end up finding a player we want to buy in January then we'll have the funds to do so.

This isn't surprising of course; it's been obvious that as frustrating as the last few years have perhaps been in the transfer market, it's been done for the long-term financial stability of the club. Buying players for cheap and then selling them at high prices due to our excellent youth development program is a system of operation that was aimed at paying off as fast as we can the Emirates Stadium and thus giving us sufficient funds to compete in the future without being terribly in debt.

Well it would seem that now our plan of financial frugality is beginning to pay off. The funds are now there (though let's not get carried away and imagine we have the spending power of a Chelsea or Man City) and Arsene Wenger seems willing to spend it if he sees the need. So the big question is, who should we buy? I'm not going to speculate on individual players, but perhaps we can talk about which positions are most important to strengthen right now.

The general consensus among we gooners right now seems to be that we need to sign a striker as cover for Robin Van Persie should he get injured. Now right now our captain is enjoying easily the longest spell of fitness of his Arsenal career to date. But let's be honest: it's not going to go on forever. At some point something will happen to him, hopefully not for very long, but it's bound to happen. So who covers for him while he's out?

Right now the main man to provide cover seems to be Marouane Chamakh. Obviously none of us are too excited about that prospect, but even if we were to rely on him and him alone the fact remains that he and Gervinho will be gone come January to the African Cup of Nations. That leaves us short a striker.

Obviously what we need is a world-class, even young striker who can get the job done. I'd sure prefer a physical presence, but what's more important is the ability to get free and create and finish scoring opportunities: match winners. There are certainly those type of strikers out there and available at the moment, so let's go for one of those.

We also could use a quality fullback. Yes, we do have two for each position at the moment, Sanga and Jenkinson on the right and Andre Santos and Gibbs on the left, but we need, I believe, at least one more. I'd say make it a left-back. Someone who's defensively solid, but definitely likes to overlap on the wings. Andre Santos likes to attack but doesn't defend quite enough for me, though he was getting better before his injury. Maybe let's get someone with about as much attacking initiative, but who can drop back and defend at a moment's notice.

Worst case scenario then: we sign neither position and Robin Van Persie gets injured. Are we in deep trouble? Perhaps, but maybe there's one more player who could slot in to centre-forward: Arshavin. Sounds crazy perhaps seeing as Wenger loves to use him on the wings, he's short, and he's been off-form. But playing in the centre, holding up play, and then finishing every now and again with something special is what he was doing in and for Russia so effectively before he came here. He was used to playing in the centre, and it helped to make him such a good player. I'd sure love to see a return to the form he was in when he first got here, and if he were forced to play in the centre, perhaps it would revitalise him.

It's all just speculation of course; who knows who Arsene will sign when the window opens, or if he'll sign anyone at all. We gooners certainly seem to feel someone needs to be signed, but does Le Boss? We'll find out soon enough.

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Fab 4