North London rivals Arsenal and Tottenham are both reportedly on the verge of securing new striking talent from La Liga.
Arsenal’s deal to sign Real Madrid’s Gonzalo Higuain looks all but done while Spurs new Technical director Franco Baldini is set to hold advanced talks in the coming days with Barcelona’s David Villa.
Both sets of supporters will be wary of going out and getting the names on the shirts just yet given the amount of conflicting speculation flying about in the transfer market at the moment but equally there appears mutual excitement at the prospect both moves.
It’s difficult to know who will be getting the better deal; Higuain joined Real in 2006 from River Plate and has scored 106 goals in 188 La Liga matches (goal every 1.77 games).
Last season he started only 19 games in the league, coming on as sub a further 9 times, and managed a more than respectable 16 goals.
His record in the Champions League hasn’t been quite as impressive during his time in Madrid, 8 goals in 48 appearances, just 1 in 9 last term.
Villa, like Higuain, struggled for starts last season; beginning the game just 17 times and coming on a further 11 as sub, scoring 10 goals in the process.
In total he has scored 33 goals in 77 La Liga games since joining Barca in 2010, combine that with his record at Valencia and he has 140 goals in 243 games (1.73).
Similarly to the Argentine his scoring form in the Champions League hasn’t been the best, 8 in 25, both players however have excellent international statistics, Higuain 20 goals in 32 games, Villa 56 in 91.
The fee Arsenal are proposed to be paying is a club record £22million and that would certainly look like good value given some of the figures currently being bandied about for striking talent.
A sum in the region of between £10 and £12million has been reported for Villa and this too represents smart business.
With Higuain aged just 25 his best may still be to come and down the line there is the possibility that Arsenal could get make their money back in a sell on.
Tottenham are unlikely to have this benefit with 31-year-old Villa and will be hoping he pays his way in goals to take them into the Champions League.
So who gets the better deal?
I’m not sure, I suppose we will only know the answer to that at the end of the season, but with the World Cup looming it should be a fair fight with both clubs having strikers with lots to prove and an international place to strive for.
Allen Whyte