Arsenal linked with £5m proven Premiership hitman
It is being reported today that the Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger is set to make a £5 million bid for the out of favour Wigan Athletic striker Hugo Rodallega.
If sources are to be believed, the Colombian has fallen out with manager Roberto Martinez and is looking to secure a move away from the DW Stadium. Moreover, Rodallega’s contract runs out in the summer so the Latics will be keen on cashing in on him in January instead of losing him for nothing at the end of the season.
Wenger has conceded that the Gunners will be short of attacking options after the departures of Marouane Chamakh and Yao Gervinho to the African Cup of Nations and is on the lookout for another striker to bring in as backup for Robin van Persie.
Although it might be easy to dismiss a rumour such as this, it does make a little sense when you think about it. The Colombian has quite a bit of Premier League experience under his belt and has some decent attributes to his game. He shows good pace, is physically very strong and can certainly take on a player or two. Furthermore, he is available on the cheap as he only has few months left on his contract with Wigan.
Personally, I think he is an average player with some decent attributes but to be very honest, he isn’t good enough for Arsenal. Van Persie cannot afford to play every single game and we need quality backup for him if we are going to push for a top-four spot and if you’d ask me, Rodallega just doesn’t fit the bill. I would rather prefer to see someone like Podolski come in.
Or is he worth signing just for his Premiership experience?
Trackback: trackback from your own site.
COMMENTS GUIDELINES: ANY COMMENTS WITH SWEARING OR PERSONAL ABUSE WILL BE DELETED WITHOUT EXCEPTION: PLEASE DISCUSS THE SUBJECT IN A FREINDLY AND OBJECTIVE MANNER. SERIAL ABUSERS WILL BE BANNED. PLEASE BE NICE TO YOUR FELLOW GOONERS!
If he isn’t in favor at wigan, what makes people think hes good enough for arsenal? Rubbish, we need a quality striker
Top Gooner!. Agree or not?:
80 
8
i prefer podoski any day anytime.thoe rodlega is a 9c player.
Top Gooner!. Agree or not?:
30 
3
Not sure… but believe …he’s a decent player on whom we can gamble… given his experience and presence in the box… his record considering at wigan is more than average… i am sure with wing play in sync and better feed from midfield …he cam prove to be phenomenal… more like eduardo9…before injury….yes for him…if there are not any options…
Opinions divided. What do you think?
15 
17
Bring us quality striker not dead woods
Top Gooner!. Agree or not?:
36 
2
He is bullshit….we should go for podolski or a better option too…i read Harry wanted to cash on pavulychenko
Opinions divided. What do you think?
19 
15
no direspect to wigan or hugo, but we are arsenal. cheers but no thanks
Top Gooner!. Agree or not?:
48 
2
When this link came up in the summer, I was skeptical bc he plays for Wigan. But rodellega impressed me so far this campaign. If wenger thinks Hugo can up his fame to the level arsenal requires, than by all means get him for 5 mil. As a fan I’d prefer a more proven striker but I trust wenger in all his decisions bc they pay off more often than not. The holiday pile up of matches is a great christmas present.
Gunners til I die
Top Gooner!. Agree or not?:
27 
2
this guy is very gud.he’s a striker who is always in hungry for goal and dats wat we arsenal lack.just buy him prof.
Top Gooner!. Agree or not?:
12 
2
Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
Out of tune?. Like or Dislike:
3 
15
NO! We need someone like Damiao, Podolski, Huntelaar or better as a backup for our Captain. Otherwise it will be just like the story with Chamakh. hopefully he will do one or two good games a season but then he will just fade on the bench.
Top Gooner!. Agree or not?:
19 
1
bring hm n podolski we get rid of chamkh n arshavin…
Rate this comment:
8 
0
preferred PODOLSKI instead. and get lavezzi to cover gervinho.
Top Gooner!. Agree or not?:
22 
1
Podolski was relegated to Bayern’s team B and even at Koln, he rarely starts. Above all, AW has said he has no interst in him. Why do some of us go on about him? Rodallega is fair but cannot truly stand in if RVP should get injured. We need someone that can do that, its not enough just to cover for the absence of Chamakh in Jan/Feb.
Rate this comment:
5 
6
I think we have enough `deadwood`, it`s hard to shift.
Opinions divided. What do you think?
11 
3
Demba Ba is way better!
Top Gooner!. Agree or not?:
34 
1
Only that will show us how far wenger think, a poor player for arsenal ever see.
Rate this comment:
4 
1
Squillaci, Silvestre, Denilson, Almunia, Chamackh, RODALLEGA?
Top Gooner!. Agree or not?:
20 
2
We need to sign 4 players in january and they are as follows
1..Lukas Podolski 15M (FCKOLN) he is the nearest player in the mould of RVP
2..Loic Remy 13M (OM) he is amazingly fast, powerfull and plays well in any position of a front 3.
3..Chistopher Samba 6M (Blackburn) simply because the man is a machine and nows the chance to get him on the cheap given Blackburns problems.
4..Taye Taiwo 9M (AC Milan) it is rare to find a LB so strong in stature but also blisteringly fast and a consistantly good crosser, im sure he would fit right in with the grit of the English game whilst also be a key component going forward for arsenal. He is frustrated at Milan as they seem to pick the veterens (as they have always done) over young players so surely would welcome a move and not for too much.
We definatly need to shift Arshavin and the Squid aswell.. major waste of decent wages!
Peace out.x
Top Gooner!. Agree or not?:
21 
3
I think Rodallega might be a good gamble. Poldoski played well in German league but I m not so sure he can cope in EPL. Chamackh is a good example. Above avg premier league players might be what we need. They bring stability. Look at Arteta & Benayoun. Wenger is good in bringing out the best in so so players in the past. I think we shd trust his judgement
Top Gooner!. Agree or not?:
15 
1
I think AW shuld go for beta players, bt if he thinks Rodelaga is good enof, then lets get him b4 smtin else happens..
Rate this comment:
7 
0
I think he will fit in if AW can gamble by bringing him in and besides he says he has no interest in Podolski. But I believe Lucas is better and a more proven striker than Hugo
Rate this comment:
3 
1
Could you give me date when Poldi was relegated to Koln B. I‘m Arsenal and FC Koeln fan
If you don’t know please don’t write.
About Poldi time in Bayern. In this time were 2 manager by Bayern, Klinsmann and Magat. First ist inexperienced manager and second is very strange. If you know Magat work method in Wolsburg you know what I mean. In same time Klose and Shlaudraf played for Bayern. Both were not in first team of Bayern. Why? Is Klose not good player?
Podolski is sensible person. He needs support from manager. If manager support and speak with him Poldi pay to him 100%.
Low and Solbaken support him. Solbaken did not started good with Poldi. Result 4 point in first 5 games. After he understood how important Poldi for Koeln he started to speak with Lucas.
Schafer (FC Cologne ex-manager) supported him.
Wenger is type of managers who support the players.
But I don’t believe that we get Poldi this winter. May be summer.
If we search good striker we should buy Pappis Cisse from Freiburg.
Very good player. Pass accuracy is about 80%. Average km per game is about 11. He scored last year about 22 or 23 goals. Good in air. Quick and don’t think a lot before he shot. If he has chance to kick he kick. He is 1000 better than Maruan. Freiburg want about 11-12mln Euro.
Top Gooner!. Agree or not?:
15 
0
So in what way is this guy actually proven yes he plays in the prem but he has no champions league experience and he is hardly a goal scorer is he? Another cheap buy that will not enhance our team we’d be better off bringing bentdner back if that’s the case! Joke !
Rate this comment:
3 
1
My first post is for Lanz.
About Papis Cisse. He is better 2-3 times as Demba Ba. Demba Ba played in Hoffenheim and he was average. If you want good striker and relatively cheap Papiss Cisse is good for Arsenal.
Again about Podolski. 30 % of Podolski’s right belong to Company Solar World. that mean not all money will go to FC Koeln. that mean we will not get him cheaper as 15mln Euro. If Koeln sell Poldi they want to get enough money to cover new buying.
Rate this comment:
3 
0
Rodallega ‘hitman’?! More like Shitman, don’t buy him. Too much of a gamble and that’s not what we need right now. Podolski is the safest option.
Gooners til I die!
Rate this comment:
6 
2
I would be more confident having chamack on than this Guy. terrible rumor
Rate this comment:
2 
5
This is just the press stirring some stuff of. For God’s sake, how on earth is Rodellaga good enough for us? I think we should focus our efforts on Vortoghen, Gotze and Matias Suarez. With these 3, we have reinforced our weakest areas.
Rate this comment:
5 
3
Not a bad signing but we need more player atleast he is strong
Rate this comment:
4 
0
@Phil Agree, especially with Samba. It would be in his best interest to leave Blackburn and join us. He is better than Baines and Cahill. Also instead of signing another defender besides Samba, Wenger should bring Bartley back from loan. He has had a good season at rangers so far.
We should consider selling Arshavin and Ramsey (two clubs are interested) and buy Gotze. He can be our marquee signing, not only bolstering our midfield to being the best in the world (Jack, Song, Gotze) it will give reason for our other star players like RvP, Walcott to extend their contracts.
So we only really need 3 signings, and also get rid of deadwood – Squillaci, Almunia, Denilson, Bendtner, Eastmond, Hoyte etc.
Rate this comment:
5 
0
i know we need a striker but did anyone forget about park he do have park and walcott we can switch to a diffrent formation with just van persie upfront and use park and walcott and podolski (if he comes )on the bench because to tell the truth walcott needs a spell on the sidlines so squad would be in febuary 2012 szechny sagna vermallen kosielny/merteasacker/vertonghen santos/kibbs song wilshere arteta ramsey goetze/hazard/gourcuff/ or the other guy dont care van persie bench podolski park walcott maybe put him on later this season gibbs/santos merteasacker/kos/vertonghen one of the three im not saying all of these players will come but that would be my dream team
Rate this comment:
2 
0
What happened to Trust In Wenger?
If the Manager, who’s most qualified says he wants Rodallega, then just go with it. I’d prefer someone else, but maybe we’re not seeing what Wenger sees.
In time he might prove doubters wrong. Remember when we were questioning RVP who was bought for 2.75M from Feyenoord? Well, same shit different smell.
Rate this comment:
4 
0
you call hugo rodallega proven? Were you high when you wrote this? We need players like podolski who are really proven both at club and international level and have experience.
Rate this comment:
2 
2
He could do a good job for us, similar in style to Gervinho, scores more goals than him. He has a striking rate that compares favourably to Chamakh. He would put more effort in than Arshavin and above all has the right haircut for the Arsenal. BUT he would want regular first team and Wenger wont buy him
Rate this comment:
2 
0
wenger should not sign this player, i have never liked how he plays and imperatively very slow. wenger should buy another player with skills and abit fast enough.
Rate this comment:
1 
1
it is better to be without attacker than buying hugo.plz bring podolski ortorres…
Rate this comment:
1 
2
We’ve been linked with the best through out the area and when the time comes Wenger wants to buy Rodallega. No offence to Rodallega but his not the kind of striker we are in for. We need highest quality to compete in the biggest competitions. He has no experience of Champions league. If he was that good, Wigan won’t be 18th in the Premier Leauge table. His goals and contributions would have been highlighted by his performance. His cheap and he maybe avilable is the only reason Wenger is looking his way. When the talk of replacing Arshavin and Chamakh started, we thought Wenger will spend a little extra as he has the funds and bring in out and out striker. You see we want a Farrari not a Ford Focus ST, RVP is like a Farrari when Rodallega, Arshavin and Chamakh are all Focus ST.
Wenger has the money but is reluctant to spend it God knows why. Maybe his now waiting for summer to make signings. Let me remind you Wenger don’t waste another year again with out silverware because a few extra millions can be saved. As fans are’nt saying become like Chelsea and City and go buy anyone and then put them on the Bench because that’s what happens in those teams their over crowded have too many players and have the greed for more so the other teams don’t get the best players. All we fans are saying is we need a top quality striker who will support RVP and score goals, scare defenders that they say oh no so and so…
Podoski is a top striker a proven striker that has the ability to scare defenders. He can play the C/L too.
And listen to our club legends in what they have to say. Cavani is a another that has popped up. His skills are beyond describing. The Uruguay international has netted 42 goals in 61 appearances since his move to the Stadio San Paolo in the summer of last year
That’s the quality we need
Rate this comment:
1 
1
Premier experience huh? Is Rodallega,Chamakh,Bendther,Gervinho better than Yakubu? Go get me Podolski,Abdellaoui,and Loic Remy. Shipout Chamakh and the other dead woods. The Arsenal is a world class club,not a testing or dumping ground for average professionals. Vivg la Persie! Congrats!
Rate this comment:
3 
1
To be quite frank we have players in the squad that could be replaced with players who are not in the squad and we could still improve.
diaby out……lansbury in
rosicky out….ozyakup in
squillaci out ..bartley in
chamakh out…..bendtner in
park out……afobe in
arshavin out…..vela in
Rate this comment:
0 
8
@bc
r u not nuts — Bring Bendtner in?
Seriously, Rodman aka Shitman, s average player and somethin we dont need at the moment.. We need quality player whose hard worker n wants to prove himself at all times, like P Cisse/demba ba/cavanni for striking position or Samba for defense.
I think this Rodellega has a attitude in him dats not gud 4 our beloved team,like Adebayor, also he is not even a proven ST to partner him wit da RVP..
Its jus me or is our beloved team jus lookin 4 average player or future Deadwoods…. Even shiitty Spuds r over their head in da market… They tryin 2 loan Kaka or Neymar n such… And How da hell did they get Van da vart???
We cant b worse than them or get shitty players than them…
I say lets get Kaka/Khedira 4 loan or buy Cavani… We r big club, so Y r we tryin 4 average – attitude players…. We better than that…
Or wat people?
Com’on Wenger, make us happy n lets get our PROUDNESS n CONFIDENCE..
*REAL GOONERS – GUNZ 4 LIFE*
Rate this comment:
3 
1
Papiss Cisse is a good bet but Huntelaar is a proven class act! Should also get Reuss!
Junior Hoilett or Demba Ba is a good choice from the PL – not too sure about Rodallega!
In Arsene we trust!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Rate this comment:
2 
1
We let go the chance of getting Eduardo Vargas, who is just awesome and would had cost only 10m. Now we are linked with Rodallega, well at least he is better than chamakh, but i’m really dissapointed that we didn’t get Vargas.
PD.Huntelaar is average, Cavani is way too expensive.
Rate this comment:
1 
2
This guy is not a good quality player, he has mini clips of some quality but not the top attributes that arsenal needs to contend with the top 4 teams in the premier league. Let’s bring in padolski and gotze
Rate this comment:
1 
1
We don’t need Roddallega and Bendtner – both. Let us go for top quality. I like De Natalie (though he is bit old)and the guy at Blackburn, Junior Hoilet.
Rate this comment:
2 
0
i think this guy can come good with us BUT only buy him if no other options and he comes very cheeeeeeeep.
Rate this comment:
3 
0
Pappiss cisse dat all i want
Rate this comment:
2 
0
no For Christs sake NO!
Rate this comment:
0 
1
Hugo Rodallega is defintely a player Arsenal need so sell
off rubbish Arshavin ,whilst making a handsome profit and
pair Arteta and Rodallega in midfield (both Spanish speake
rs )as Wilshere,Walcott and Ramsey are too lightweight and
nowhere near as technically good ,with ben-Ayoun as backup
and Diaby when he finally overcomes his horrendous injury
concerns ?
Rate this comment:
1 
0