Arsene Wenger: Ex-Chelsea 'winner' Didier Drogba is still haunting Arsenal

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Giuseppe Muro29 July 2016

Arsene Wenger today admitted he is stepping up his search to sign a new striker after old Arsenal nemesis Didier Drogba returned to haunt him in America.

Former Chelsea striker Drogba continued his remarkable scoring record against Arsenal, but the Gunners still beat the MLS-All Stars 2-1 in a pre-season friendly this morning.

Drogba now has 16 goals in 17 matches against Arsenal and Wenger admits the player will haunt him “until the end of his life”.

Wenger then said he intended to buy a new striker but expressed concerns at the “scary” money being spent.

“I do not have too many experienced attacking options,” said the Arsenal manager. “We are still going to look outside to find one more.”

Wenger has so far been frustrated in his search for a striker after missing out on Jamie Vardy and Alvaro Morata and having a £29.4 million bid rejected for Alexandre Lacazette.

The Frenchman wants to bolster his attacking options of Olivier Giroud, Theo Walcott, Joel Campbell and Chuba Akpom before the window closes.

Wenger was speaking after goals from Campbell and Akpom secured victory for Arsenal in San Jose against a team that included Kaka, Andrea Pirlo and David Villa.

Drogba, 38, now plays for Montreal Impact and Wenger said: “At half-time, I was thinking: ‘He is still haunting us, even in the United States’.

Arsenal FC via Getty Images

“He has always harmed us and he continues. He is a winner and he will be like that until the end of his life.

“Drogba is a typical poacher of a goal. He can do that in the box. When I see him in the box and fighting with young defenders, I always think that now there is danger there because you know he will get the upper hand and score you a goal and that is what he did.”

Arsenal have just over two weeks until their first game of the season, against Liverpool on August 14, and Wenger was pleased to give £30million signing Granit Xhaka his debut.

The 23-year-old, who is Arsenal’s only major new arrival this summer, played 45 minutes after coming on at half-time and looked assured in midfield.

“He did adjust very well,” said Wenger. “His passing was clean and technically he did well. His first game was encouraging.”

Arsenal in pre-season training

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Wenger also gave 20-year-old Rob Holding his Arsenal debut and said of the defender: “He reads the game well and understands what’s going on. He anticipates well and that’s a quality, at a young age, you don’t find a lot.”

Wenger was asked if a top-four finish would be enough for Arsenal this season. “It is never enough,” he said. “I personally believe that no matter what you do, it is never enough.

“It is a big ask, because when you look at the Premier League, every club is hugely ambitious. You look at the cheques that everybody signs and it is quite scary. That is what the Premier League is about at the moment.”

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain impressed against the MLS-All Stars. The 22-year-old winger missed the final three months of last season and Euro 2016 with a knee injury and is hoping to force his way back into the side after a long spell out.

Theo Walcott, Jack Wilshere and Petr Cech also started for Arsenal, who had the inexperienced pair of Holding and Krystian Bielik in central defence.

Arsenal face a defensive shortage with Per Mertesacker ruled out for months with a knee injury and Laurent Koscielny set to miss the start of the season, leaving Gabriel and Calum Chambers as Wenger’s only senior options.

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