1. Karim Benzema
In 2010, the world cup was hosted by South Africa and you could say it was the worst world cup the French national team had ever had. They managed to score only one goal and picked up only one point from a group that looked fairly simple when the draw was made. However the start to the 2014 world cup in Brazil has been a complete contrast to four years ago, in their first game they eased past Honduras 3-0, Benzema scoring 2 of the goals and contributing heavily to the other goal by shooting against the post and onto the keeper. Switzerland was next up for the French and they once again showed their attacking threat by scoring 5 goals, Benzema once again on the score sheet in a 5-2 victory.
Before the world cup started in Brazil, a few of the Arsenal players had spoken to the press saying that we are in need of a striker, and preferably a world class one. Oliver Giroud spoke to InfoSport+ “I can tell you that Arsenal will add a striker to the team, we need another striker”. So if our only attacking striker can see that we need to add to our strikers list then surely Arsene Wenger can see that our options and depth up front is where the problem lies.
Karim Benzema has scored 72 goals in 159 appearances and with Real Madrid looking to sign the Premier league’s top scorer Luis Suarez, Benzema may feel he is not wanted in Madrid and could move away from the Spanish capital as he won’t be the first choice striker. In my opinion I think that the French striker would suit Arsenal perfectly as he has the ability to hold up the ball, to bring our attacking midfielders into play but he can also run in behind the defenders, something that Oliver Giroud can’t do. Benzema will cost Arsenal in the region of £30-£40 million, which is certainly affordable for the gunners this summer.
Karim Benzema is favourite to start up front for the French team in the world cup, alongside Oliver Giroud. Which could give the fans and Arsene Wenger something to think about if the pair form a good partnership together in Brazil. Two of Arsenal’s current players Laurent Koscielny and Oliver Giroud are both in the French squad and hopefully they can persuade Benzema to move from Madrid to London and re-join his former Real Madrid team mate Mesut Ozil. Use the page numbers below to navigate through the rest of the article.