Osvaldo to play key part in Arsenal’s chase of loan striker

Another world class striker would certainly not go amiss for Arsenal before the closing of the January transfer window, with competition needed for Olivier Giroud as the Gunners continue to battle for three trophies this season.

Giroud has re-found some form again of late with four goals in his last five Arsenal appearances, but given that only goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny has started more Premier League games for the Gunners, there is a danger that he will tire in the latter stages of the campaign.

Arsene Wenger will do well to get a striker of the calibre of Mirko Vucinic for a small outlay in January for the remainder of the season, both in terms of cost and fitness.

A loan deal for Vucinic is unlikely to cost Arsenal more than £2m and Vucinic has only played 10 games for Juventus all season, falling behind Carlos Tevez and Fernando Llorente in the pecking order despite being the Serie A champions’s top scorer in the last campaign.

The one obvious problem with Vucinic is that he can be a little temperamental and is at his best when feeling confident, which is largely improved by a run in the first team.

This is unlikely at Arsenal as he will certainly be the second-string to Giroud, but he does have a different set of attributes to the Frenchman, being more about technique than physicality.

Furthermore, Vucinic has proven with Juventus and the Montenegro national team that he is a regular getter of goals when played as a centre forward, rather than in a wider position.

All things considered, Vucinic would be a valuable acquisition for Arsenal, who have drifted to a big price of 11/2 to win the Premier League, entirely on the basis of a decent draw at Southampton in the same set of fixtures as Manchester City winning at Tottenham.

However, the prime factor in whether this deal goes through could involve Dani Osvaldo, with the striker on the radar of Juventus after falling out of favour at Southampton.

Osvaldo was the third-highest scorer in Serie A in the 2012/13 season when playing for Roma and if he can be purchased for less than £10m, he would have to be considered a bargain, even with the personal baggage he brings.