Could buying Javier Hernandez secure the title for Arsenal?

Arsenal have just two senior strikers to call upon at the moment. Between them, Olivier Giroud and Nicklas Bendtner have scored 21 league goals since the Frenchman joined the north London side. That is not a figure to strike fear into the heart of opposition defences.

Arsene Wenger knows this and has tried to address it by targeting Luis Suarez and Gonzalo Higuain last summer. He’s now been linked with several strikers with names like Dimitar Berbatov and Alvaro Morata popping up, but one of the latest to be linked with Arsenal is Javier Hernandez.

The diminutive Mexican has been a revelation since signing for Manchester United in 2010, scoring 34 goals in 89 Premier League matches. That goalscoring record isn’t one of the best around and doesn’t jump out at you, but look a little deeper and you’ll see how impressive it is.

‘Chicharito’ has scored 34 goals in 46 starts in the league – a staggering figure. He’s earned the tag of ‘super sub’ for his impact coming off of the substitutes’ bench throughout his United career. However, he has struggled this season under David Moyes.

Arsenal seem to be doing fine with Giroud as a the lone, main striker this season. They currently sit top of the Premier League and Giroud’s work and link-up play with the midfielders at Arsenal is impressive.

Maybe then, Arsene Wenger shouldn’t target a first-choice striker and go for Hernandez who can offer so much coming off the bench?

Hernandez finished last season with 10 goals from 22 appearances – 9 of which were starts. He had the best minutes-per-goal ratio in the league last season, scoring a goal every 94.8 minutes.

Not only is he reliable off the bench, he is accurate when he shoots, hitting just 15 shots off target since the start of last season. His shot accuracy of 63% last season was better than Robin van Persie (59%), Wayne Rooney (56%) and Danny Welbeck (42%).

This season, Hernandez has started four matches and played 12 in total in the league, scoring just once. He’s struggled a lot under Moyes but has still managed to hit the target with 88% of his shots. Only Shinji Kagawa has a better accuracy – 100% – but he has had just two shots.

His impact, last season, was far better than this season, overall. In the 22 league games he played in, he scored 10 times and assisted three. That means he contributed to 26% of United’s goals in those matches. Considering he started just 9 of those 22, that’s impressive and shows exactly what Arsenal could have if Wenger can steal him from United.

So, as you can see, Hernandez is as effective as anyone when coming off the bench to influence the outcome of a game. This is proven by his goals from the bench last season. In total, he scored four goals coming off the bench – three of those gained five points for United which were vital in retaining the title from their neighbours, Manchester City.

If Wenger has enough faith in Giroud to carry on leading the line well, then he needs to look for someone who can influence the team from the bench and win games late on. Javier Hernandez is just that player. He may not be showing it this season but his past record at United proves he is capable of scoring goals and winning games as an impact substitute.

Arsenal are top of the league with 19 games remaining. They need another forward to help Giroud and Hernandez could be the perfect back-up.