Arsenal Transfer Rumours: Gunners' Potential Alternatives to Gonzalo Higuain

Gonzalo Higuain was set to join Arsenal at the start of the month, but it seems Real Madrid’s valuation exceeds the resources available to the Gunners.

Having played a £23 million bid, as claimed by Paul Collins at MailOnline, Real Madrid are only considering a sale, if bids are around £37 million for the Argentinian striker. With negotiations stalled for the striker, here are some other alternatives to Higuain and Arsenal’s striking dilemma.

Roberto Soldado

From Madrid to Valencia, via a few loan spells, 28-year-old Roberto Soldado is one of the most potent centre-forwards in Europe.

He scored 24 goals in 35 games last season, increasing his total Valencia tally to 82 goals in 141 games for Los Che. Soldado’s career total strike rate is impressive: 136 goals/280 games.

The Spanish internationalist has more to his game than just goals. Soldado has excellent movement on the shoulder of the last defender and is happy to bring others into the game, like Valencia teammates Jonas and Pablo Piatti, for example.

Linked with Spurs recently, who Daily Star claims to have reportedly lodged a £20 million bid, Soldado has the talents to make a step up in European football, and he's ready to hit his peak performance.

Stefan Kiessling

Remarkably unfancied by Joachim Low, the coach of the Germany national team, Stefan Kiessling has played with a chip on his shoulder for some time.

The 29-year-old is one of the best finishers in German football, scoring the most goals in the 2012 calendar year and recording the highest scoring of 2012-13 with 25 goals, one more than Robert Lewandowski.

The Leverkusen striker has scored 111 career Bundesliga goals in 279 games, but he also has led Bayer’s frontline efficiently in a counter-attacking strategy, which landed them in third place last season in the Bundesliga.

Kiessling is one of the strongest strikers in the German top-flight and would be a fine signing, perhaps for around £15 million.

Burak Yilmaz

Previously a target of Arsenal, per Daily Star, Turkish striker Burak Yilmaz showed his talents in Galatasaray’s extended run in the UEFA Champions League last season. He has played for all of Turkey’s “big-four” clubs, but he is a late bloomer with impressive strike rates at Trabzonspor and with current champions in 2012/13.

At 28, Yilmaz has scored 116 career goals in 257 matches, including 32 in 39 matches for Galatasaray and 58 in 93 matches for Trabzonspor. Cimbom have admitted, according to Mirror Football, their happiness to sell the player for the right valuation, believed to be between £15 million-£20 million.

Others

Looking at a reduced value market, Hoffenheim’s Kevin Volland would be a useful acquisition to lead the attacking line.

Versatile from right-to-left, strong and with a neat touch, the German U-21 international has been a standout for the Bundesliga side, even with Hoffenheim needing a relegation play-off to survive last season. The 20-year-old has been linked with Napoli, per Calcio Mercato (h/t TransferMarkt) and could be available for less than £10 million.

Other options, focusing on a cheaper transfer valuation, include Ajax striker Kolbeinn Sigþórsson—he scored 10 goals in 19 matches last season—and Pescara’s 22-year-old Lorenzo Insigne, who starred for Italy’s U-21 side at the UEFA U-21 European Championships.

A particular mention goes to Fiorentina’s Mario Gomez, who should have been at the top of Arsenal’s transfer list this summer—and he cost just £20 million for La Viola.

Given the Gunners were offering closer to £23 million for Higuain, the former Bayern Munich and Stuttgart striker would have topped the Real Madrid striker, and then some, in a red shirt.