Newly rich Arsenal should go all out to sign Rooney

8Jun 2013

England - Premier League

With noises from the Emirates that Arsenal are finally willing to spend big, Christian Crowther suggests that they give Man United a taste of their own medicine...

When the bigger kid gets toy-envy, they don't normally hesitate to steal it from the smaller one. In football, the same theory can be applied to transfers as one team decides that they want exactly what someone else has.

Although Man United didn't technically steal Robin van Persie off of Arsenal last summer, they were the bully in that transfer saga and have subsequently reaped the dividends, while Arsenal clearly suffered without their 30-goal Dutchman.

However, revenge could be Arsenal's if, as reported, the board are at last ready to break the bank to bring in some stellar names this summer, especially with Wayne Rooney apparently angling for a move.

According to their chief executive Ivan Gazidas, Arsenal are ready to "escalate" their spending, with a rumoured £70 million thought to be available to Arsene Wenger to splash.

Armed with this new wonga, it would seem Wenger can finally go toe-to-toe with the mighty spending power of Manchester City, United and Chelsea.

And after losing their talismanic striker to United last season, this is the perfect chance to give the Red Devils a dose by going after their leading marksman of the Premier League era.

If Arsenal want to shorten their 14.0 Premier League winner odds for 2013/14 then Rooney's signature would go a long way towards achieving that.

For too many years, the Gunners have been losing their best players while others around them prosper and Rooney's signature would not only send out a message, he's exactly the sort of player they need.

There is not one player in Arsenal's current squad who has won any sort of medal in English football, while Rooney brings five titles and two League Cups for starters.

Although Arsenal had four players who scraped double figures in the Premier League scorer charts, they do not have any one who looks capable of breaking the 25-goal mark, which Rooney has achieved twice in the last four seasons.