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| Carlos Vela |
In November 2005 the father of then 16 year old Carlos Vela announced that his son was on his way to Arsenal, having signed a 5 year deal, commanding a transfer fee of around £2m. Albeit not really starting at the club until 2008, due to work permit issues. Five years after originally signing, his Arsenal future was in doubt. A year after that it appears to be non-existent.
In a question and answer session at the Emirates today, Arsene Wenger had this to say about his strikers: "We lose players like Chamakh and Gervinho to the Africa Cup of Nations, so hopefully touch wood we do not get any injuries to our strikers. But if an opportunity turns up in that department then we will buy." Vela is undoubtedly a talented striker, a glance through his goals in an Arsenal shirt show that much, but he has never seemed to be able to put in the right performances at the right time. Arsenal fans have often only seen his best when he has been wearing a Mexico shirt. Currently on loan at Real Sociedad, Vela seems to have found his feet in Spain, with two goals in three games, including the fantastic overhead kick against Malaga, pictured below.
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| Vela scores a stunner on loan at Real Sociedad |
With Marouane Chamakh being reported as increasingly unsettled at the club, Niklas Bendtner wanting away and Park unproven there may be opportunities for Vela through the middle at some point soon. Andrei Arshavin also seems increasingly likely to leave, being well and truly behind Gervinho in the pecking order - though he will have the ACN period in January to prove himself - there may also be opportunities for Vela on the left of the front three in 2012/13. Personally, I feel that it would be a real shame to see him leave, I have always liked him as a player and still believe that he can make it at the Emirates; so long as he gets a run of games. If he doesn't get the chance to succeed at Arsenal, I can definitely see him becoming a top player somewhere else, another one that might get away.
Should Vela be given another chance at Arsenal? Comments or Twitter as always!!
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ReplyDeleteI think he's starting to hit form with Sociedad. He has all the talent in the world, and could easily become a top striker (doesn't matter which league), but he's been overlooked over and over again by our manager, and lost confidence as a result. Add to that the fact he clearly isn's as comfortable playing in a 4-3-3 formation, whether on the wing or up front, and it's perhaps unsurprising people think he might leave.
ReplyDeleteThat said, I too would rather see him given more opportunities at arsenal because I think he's probably the best finisher we have, except van persie, and if he were able to adapt his game to play on the wing (as I think he was starting to do last season), or as a centre forward, we would have another exceptional player on our hands.
Last season, I couldn't see the point in letting arshavin play over and over, and disappoint in nearly every single match, when there's no doubt in my mind that vela could have contributed just as much in terms of goals and assists, and he would likely have improved over the season.