Former Arsenal star Emmanuel Petit believes Arsenal need to “sign two or three more players” if they want to win the league this season.
“Arsenal improved their squad, but they also lost an important player in Granit Xhaka,” Petit told Lord Ping. “I still believe that Arsenal need to sign two or three more players if they want to become champions, but they won’t be able to get them in the January window because clubs don’t want to sell their best players halfway through the season.
“The exception to that is the signing of Trossard last January, but he had six months left on his contract and wanted to leave. It’s very rare to get a player that good in the January window.
“Every season Arsenal adds one or two high quality players to their squad. Arteta and the board are maybe copying the same approach in the transfer market as Liverpool and Manchester City where they are waiting to sign the right players, rather than signing players that offer short-term fixes.
“I’m sure that Edu and Arteta have identified the perfect players that they would like to add to the group in the summer because when you play in the Premier League and the Champions League, that is a demanding work load. You cannot play with the same eleven players every week.
“The most important signing would be a striker and possibly a wide forward that can take the pressure off Martinelli and Saka. Arsenal are missing the striker that can score between twenty-to-thirty goals a season.
“It’s a non-negotiable if you want to compete with the best teams, you need a player that guarantees you a certain number of goals. We saw Manchester City rotate the goals among their players before they signed Haaland, but then you need maybe six or seven players who will score at least ten goals each season.
“Arsenal don’t have those players. I have huge respect for Gabriel Jesus and Eddie Nketiah, but are they going to score twenty-to-thirty goals a season? I don’t think so.”
Olivia Martin is a dedicated sports journalist based in the UK. With a passion for various athletic disciplines, she covers everything from major league championships to local sports events, delivering up-to-the-minute updates and in-depth analysis.
