Arsenal Transfer News: Gonzalo Higuain Purchase Would Be Bad Business by Gunners

Arsenal do not have the strongest striking unit in the Premier League but adding Gonzalo Higuain would hardly improve that and would also not address the Gunners' most pressing issues.

Reports suggest, per Fichajes.net (h/t Aaron Flanagan of the Mirror), that Emirates boss Arsene Wenger may be set to go in, once again, for Napoli's Higuain as he is short on proven strikers with only Danny Welbeck and the injured Olivier Giroud to call upon.

The Argentine has gotten off to a shocking start in the Italian top flight this season and may well be looking for a move in Januray, per Serie A commentator Patrick Kendrick, and Arsenal may rekindle their interest:

This would not be a wise move.

While Arsenal are clearly short on top-quality out-and-out strikers—Yaya Sanogo is third in line behind Welbeck and Giroud—their style of play means other attacking players can be very effective in terms of goalscoring.

For example, summer-purchase Alexis Sanchez has bagged three goals and two assists already in the Premier League this season, per WhoScored, while Aaron Ramsey—also not a striker—is prolific in front of goal when on form.

Add to that an in-form Welbeck and a fit Giroud—along with players like Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Theo Walcott and Mesut Ozil—and Arsenal have an attack perfectly capable of getting enough goals to win games.

Thus, while another striker would be helpful, splashing out cash would only be worth it if Arsenal were buying in guaranteed goals.

Higuain on current form would not offer that. He has had a horrendous start to the Serie A season and has yet to register a goal—although he has scored twice in the Europa League. 

Squawka recently provided his dire match stats against Inter Milan whilst also alluding to Wenger's interest in the striker:

Considering Higuain only signed for Napoli from Real Madrid last summer for £34.5 million, per BBC Sport, he would likely cost a significant amount of money if Arsenal were to sign him up.

That money should only be spent on a striker who is going to make an undeniable difference to Arsenal's play, not a guarantee with Higuain.

Furthermore, spending money on the Napoli man would undoubtedly take away from January funds which are desperately needed for strengthening in other areas.

As was perfectly displayed in the Gunners' recent 2-2 home draw with Hull, Arsenal are desperately short on top-class defenders, as the BBC's Mark Pougatch alludes to:

Furthermore, Arsenal still need a genuinely strong presence in the deep-lying midfield role and long-term target Sami Khedira may be slipping away, per 101 Great Goals:

Spending money on Higuain would be bad business as he is not in any kind of form and a striker should not currently be top of Arsenal's wish list.

While the Gunners attack is not perfect, it is good enough to compete at the top level. Their defence, however, is another matter.

January is not a time to do lots of business but another centre-back and defensinve midfielder are necessities at the moment for Arsenal. Buying Higuain also would be superfluous and unnecessary, and potentially a waste of money.