by Lewis Ambrose

Arsenal are being heavily linked with a striker this summer, but that would surely see the club having to release one of their current forward options?

Olivier Giroud is first choice right now, Theo Walcott is fit again and wants to play centrally and Danny Welbeck started 14 games as a central striker last season. There’s also some guy called Alexis Sánchez.

Of all those players the arrival of a new star striker like Karim Benzema would probably push Welbeck out of the clubWelbeck wants to play centrally, and a lack of opportunities was part of the reason he left Manchester United last summer.

Now he could join former Manchester United teammate Robin van Persie and Arsenal teammate Lukas Podolski in Turkey.

According to Turkish news outlet Aksam the third team of Istanbul, Besiktas, are now interested in the services of the Arsenal man. My Turkish is rusty and Google translate is far from the best but it looks like they have valued Welbeck at around £10.5M, which would see Arsenal make a loss of around £5M less than a year after signing the player. It appears that Besiktas would rather pay £7M for the forward or even take him on loan initially with an option to buy.

That seems unlikely, and even more unlikely is the claim that Welbeck could even join on loan initially. His goal return was below average last season – he scored four times in 18 Premier League starts for Arsenal – but his all-round game is excellent.

Danny Welbeck of Arsenal arrives prior to the Barclays Premier League match between Burnley and Arsenal at Turf Moor on April 11, 2015 in Burnley, England. (Photo by Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images)
Danny Welbeck of Arsenal arrives prior to the Barclays Premier League match between Burnley and Arsenal at Turf Moor on April 11, 2015 in Burnley, England. (Photo by Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images)

Welbeck’s athleticism is incredibly impressive and the forward can play on either wing. His work rate is second to none, as is his unselfishness, and Arsène Wenger will greatly value all of those qualities. However if Arsenal were to sign another striker you wonder where it leaves Welbeck, whose opportunities to force himself into the side would be extremely limited.

Nonetheless is Welbeck were to leave I am sure there would be more attractive offers that Turkey, and more than £7M would be on the table.

A knee injury kept Welbeck out of the FA Cup Final back in May and has also seen him miss pre-season so far, but Wenger has said that he expects him to return for the Emirates Cup this weekend.