Transfer Scouting Report - Dario Cvitanich: Can this Ligue 1 hitman bolster Arsenal's thin strikeforce?

Not long after Arsenal broke their transfer record to bring in a genuinely world class player from Real Madrid, Germany international Mesut Ozil, Arsene Wenger brought the fan base down to Earth with a bump by telling them that Nicklas Bendtner would be playing a part in the first team squad this season.

With this in mind it is evident that Arsenal need some support for Olivier Giroud in the centre forward position, especially with alternative options Lukas Podolski and Theo Walcott being out with medium term injuries.

After all Giroud has six goals in 11 appearances this season but Bendtner has no goals in his three games.

One answer to this problem could be Nice striker Dario Cvitanich who is in fantastic goal scoring form in Ligue 1 this season.

Throughout his career, at Banfield, Ajax, Pachuca and Boca Juniors, the Argentinean forward has averaged around about a goal every 2.5 games.

This season has been even better so far for Cvitanich. In nine Ligue 1 matches he has scored six goals. This works out at a goal every 1.5 games, better than Giroud’s one every two appearances in the Premier League.

Cvitanich’s goals so far this season

He has taken 18 shots this season with an impressive 61% of those shots hitting the target and with six goals so far an equally impressive one third of his efforts end up in the back of the net. This season he is second top scorer in the French top flight behind Monaco forward Radamel Falcao by just one goal.

With Nice having netted 12 goals in total this season Cvitanich has scored 50% of their Ligue 1 goals. Last season with 19 goals in 57 games he scored a third of the teams goals.

Last season was played in a similar vein with 19 goals for Nice in 29 matches with 61% of his shots on target and almost 39% of his 49 shots resulted in a goal. During this season he was third top scorer in Ligue 1, behind only Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Patrick Aubameyang.

He offers little other than goals. Six chances created has resulted in no assists, he wins just 33% of the few tackles and headers he attempts and has only made one interception. His pass completion is also respectable at best, 76%.

Giroud on the other hand has created 14 chances this season and these have led to four assists. He is also better in the air, winning 59% of headers and the Frenchman defends from the front well winning 63% of headers.

Chances created by Olivier Giroud

Cvitanich is a good goal scorer with pedigree in Argentina, Mexico, Holland and France. He would certainly be able to provide back up to Giroud at the least but given his obvious goal scoring ability he should be able to provide some decent competition to the France international.

At 29 years old he is likely to be available, or at least willing to move to a club the size of Arsenal, and cost a reasonable fee. Wenger could certainly do a lot worse.