What is the Plan B to Suarez?
Jackson Martinez
Age – 26
Club – Porto
12/13 League Apps – 30
12/13 League Goals – 26
Porto seem to have this incredible knack of replacing one world class striker with a prospective new one. After selling Hulk and Falcao, Porto have unearthed another South American gem in Columbian Jackson Martinez. Blessed with an eye for goal and great physical structure, Martinez has been a goal scoring threat throughout his career, capping off his greatest season so far with 34 goals in 43 games, helping Porto to win the Portuguese title. Porto fans must surely be worried about speculation linking Martinez away from the club, with Napoli reportedly interested, but with their record of signing strikers, I’m sure they’ll find a replacement. It’s always a risk to sign a player after one big season in Europe, and for that reason alone I’d be put off, but the lad seems to have it all.
Karim Benzema
Age – 25
Club – Real Madrid
12/13 League Apps – 30
12/13 League Goals – 11
12/13 League Assists – 11
Not the first Real Madrid superstar we’ve been linked with this summer and this one certainly holds some weight. Arsenal for the last few years have been reported to have heavy interest in the Frenchman, with Wenger said to be a massive fan. With Liverpool reluctant to sell to their ‘direct rivals’ it could well be a case of Real Madrid signing Suarez and Benzema going to Arsenal, which has been reported in the French press over the last couple of days. Benzema and Higuain very much shared the central striking role last season and Benzema’s goal scoring record pretty much speaks for itself, 87 goals in 183 games for Real Madrid and 66 in 148 games for Lyon. Not bad at all for a 25 year old. I myself have never been a huge fan of Benzema; I’ve not always been convinced by his attitude on the pitch. His talent is unquestioned, but would Wenger be able to get the best out of a player who may feel he has nothing left to prove? This is certainly the most likely transfer to happen from this list, but Real Madrid could want anything up to £45m would Wenger be willing to pay that sum?
