Arsenal are in dire need of a striker. They had three to start the season, with Eddie Nketiah, Alexandre Lacazette, and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. Now, Aubameyang is in Barcelona, Lacazette is out of favor with Mikel Arteta, and Nketiah is the only one really getting minutes. In Spain, Atletico Madrid confirmed that Luis Suarez will be leaving the club on a free transfer this summer. He was instrumental last season in Atleti's title run but fell out of the rotation completely.
Due to these circumstances, Arsenal have a chance to bring Suarez in. Here are three reasons why Arsenal should go after Luis Suarez this summer.
Reasons why Arsenal should bring in Luis Suarez
They are in a desperate chase after a goalscorer
Right now, the top goalscorer of Arsenal is Buyako Saka with 12 goals in all competitions. A concerning factor for the Gunners is that Aubameyang, who left in January, is still their fourth-most prolific player this year. He was the third, but Nketiah got a few goals in the last couple of weeks.
Clearly, having your best goalscorer only score 12 goals in all competitions, combined with the fact that only one more player, Emile Smith-Rowe, has 10 or more, is not a good sign. To go into the top four, where Arsenal believe they belong, you need a goalscoring threat. Clearly, Arsenal are missing one, but it could all change if Suarez is brought in.
Before he fell out of the lineup, Luis Suarez was still getting goals for Atletico Madrid. Even as a player who occasionally goes in for half an hour or so, playing on a team predicated mostly on defensive stability, Suarez was able to score 13 goals this season. It is not a lot, granted, but even in that form, the Uruguayan would be the top goalscorer for Arsenal. He is 35, that part is true, but Suarez is proven in the English Premier League, he is still a strong player who can brush off a challenge, and he has a nose for the goal like not many around the continent. Arsenal have players who will create a ton of chances, and Suarez is the perfect player to get them into the goal.
Suarez needs a bounce-back season in a big league
When it was confirmed that Suarez will not be playing for Atletico Madrid next season, there was a lot of talk about his next destination. Mostly, however, the story was that he will be playing in a league like MLS. With all due respect to MLS and the work they were able to do to elevate the level of play, Suarez has a lot to say in Europe still. Just a year ago, Suarez was winning a title playing for Atletico Madrid and showing Barcelona why letting him go was a huge mistake. Going to Arsenal would give Suarez a chance to reprove himself in the biggest and most competitive league in the world.
Let's not have any illusions, though: Suarez is not the player he was in Barcelona, or even with Liverpool. The player who scored 69 goals in four Premier League seasons, then scored an additional 147 in six La Liga seasons, is gone with the wind. Father Time is still undefeated and has caught up to Luis Suarez.
However, Arsenal would not need that level of Suarez. Rather, they need a stable goalscorer who can bring in 15-20 goals per season. Pace and strength fall off with age, but the instinct for goal does not. As mentioned above, Suarez has the impeccable skill to find the best solution in front of goal, so it would be on Arsenal players to simply supply him with good opportunities.
It is fate
This might sound ridiculous, but it is really fate for Luis Suarez to join Arsenal. In the summer of 2013, Suarez was heavily linked with the Gunners. Apparently, there was a clause in Suarez's contract that was misunderstood as an automatic release clause. In fact, it was a clause where Suarez had to be informed about any bid over £40 million. Since Liverpool did not make the Champions League in 2013 and Arsenal did, Suarez was interested in moving to the Emirates. Given the misunderstanding, Arsenal sent an offer of £40 million and exactly one pound, thinking that it would trigger the release clause.
What ended up happening is that Liverpool owners felt disrespected by the offer and, since they were under no obligation to sell, did not sell Suarez. They waited for one year and then moved Suarez for £75 million to Barcelona, and Arsenal lost a huge player who could have transformed them as a club.
Now, as they have a chance to bring him in, they should really do it for this reason as well. Suarez was interested in coming over to London, and now this could be his chance. For all of these reasons and many more, Arsenal should go after Luis Suarez this summer.
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