Arsenal Transfer Rumors: Adding Adrian Lopez Would Be the Wrong Move for Gunners

Arsenal should add a striker during the January transfer window, but Atletico Madrid's Adrian Lopez shouldn't be the choice for Arsene Wenger and the Gunners.

Goal.com reports that the Gunners remain in talks with Atletico about acquiring the 24-year-old striker, whom the Gunners made a £10 million offer for last week.

Relegated to the bench behind the dynamic Radamel Falcao for Atletico, Lopez has gone out of form, looking inconsistent on the pitch when he does get a chance to play.

Adding another inconsistent striker to the mix doesn't help the Gunners now or in the future.

Could Lopez regain his form with regular playing time and become a productive player for Arsenal?

Sure, anything's possible.

But it's far from a sure thing.

Granted, players we can classify as "sure things" are few and far between, but there's nothing about Lopez's overall game that makes you believe that he would be anything more than a rotational player up top at the Emirates.

With the Gunners still hot on the trail of Barcelona's David Villa, who is an ideal fit (something we looked at recently), it makes little sense to spend money on Lopez.

Realistically, the transfer fee needed to acquire him would more than likely take Arsenal out of the running for other, more useful additions—like Villa.

Yes, Villa may not become available until the summer (as Goal.com's Ben Hayward made note of), and Lopez is significantly younger than his Barcelona counterpart.

But Theo Walcott has thrived when given a chance to play centre-forward, and Olivier Giroud remains a capable striker up front for the Gunners.

A less expensive addition, one that would still give the Gunners the financial flexibility to bring someone like Villa into the fold, is the way to go.