Two Premier League icons have revealed what Arsenal players must really be thinking about the club’s failure to sign a top striker.
Mikel Arteta’s side has endured a hugely disappointing season in the league, having now very likely been pipped to the title by rivals Liverpool. The Gunners took a step backward in many ways, failing to build on their strong second-place finish last term and lift the trophy for the first time in two decades.
A large part of their struggles this season has been down to a lack of firepower up front, which has only become more evident since four of their key forwards—Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Jesus, Gabriel Martinelli, and Kai Havertz—suffered injuries after Christmas.
Arteta and former sporting director Edu Gaspar did not sign a striker last summer despite the position being a clear weakness in the team, having failed to land Newcastle’s Alexander Isak and RB Leipzig No. 9 Benjamin Sesko. And despite Arteta’s preference to bring in Aston Villa star Ollie Watkins during the January window as a way of boosting the team’s title chances, the board opted to save their funds for the upcoming summer after seeing a £60m bid rebuffed.
Now, with Arsenal’s title hopes seemingly dead in the water, the Gunners will have to make do with the limited options they have ahead of a blockbuster Champions League quarter-final clash with Real Madrid—their only remaining shot at silverware this term. And former Sunderland striker Kevin Phillips—winner of the Premier League's 1999/00 Golden Boot with 30 goals—claims the current Arsenal players have been let down in their desperation for Arteta to bolster the squad with a clinical striker.
Phillips, who was an Arsenal supporter growing up in nearby Stevenage, said on the Seaman Says podcast, brought to you by Betway: “We ask the same question every day. Being an Arsenal fan as well—why haven't you gone out and just splashed the money and got that centre forward?
“Because you do that—someone like an Isak or an Ollie Watkins, born goalscorers, and that's all they live for—and Arsenal is in with a right chance of winning the league. So I'm sure it will get addressed in the summer. I hope it does."
Discussing how the Arsenal players will be feeling behind the scenes, he added, “We've been in dressing rooms where a manager makes a signing, and you're like, 'Oh, yeah! Delighted!' That gives everyone a lift, a buzz. And you can't tell me those Arsenal players are not thinking behind the scenes that ‘we need a striker, gaffer, we need a striker. Someone put the ball in the back of the net.’ So it's going to be that ongoing question until they do go and get someone who's out there.”
Legendary Manchester United forward Dwight Yorke shares Phillips’ sentiment, adding Sesko’s name to Isak and Watkins’ as strikers that could have hugely benefitted the Gunners.
Yorke believes that Arsenal's stars were left “deflated” by their lack of forward signings in January, which led to a run of poor results.
He told casinobeats.com: “I think it was clear to everybody who was watching that Arsenal needed to really energise their team with a big-name signing, a big personality coming in to the club to really give the place a lift because that can be enough to get you over the line. In January, February, and March, it's when the season is really testing, and you need to be at full pelt to get through those phases.
“I feel when you look at what happened at Arsenal in the transfer window, that has been so disappointing for them that even the players got deflated. The supporters are now deflated. I think it stemmed from that, and it shows in their performances.
“It’s a strange one. I just think that Arsenal should have really gone out on a limb to try to get someone. I looked at Benjamin Sesko, and he's a good player as well. I think he and Isak are the two players that I would have tried to sign to give you some kind of momentum going into the latter stage of the season.”
Arteta is expected to correct Arsenal’s wrongs this summer and could well look to sign one of the three aforementioned players, while other names such as Victor Osimhen, Jonathan David, and Dusan Vlahovic have also been linked with the north Londoners.
The impending arrival of former Atletico Madrid sporting director Andrea Berta is also expected to provide a massive boost in their transfer dealings.
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Arteta and former sporting director Edu Gaspar did not sign a striker last summer despite the position being a clear weakness in the team, having failed to land Newcastle’s Alexander Isak and RB Leipzig No. 9 Benjamin Sesko. And despite Arteta’s preference to bring in Aston Villa star Ollie Watkins during the January window as a way of boosting the team’s title chances, the board opted to save their funds for the upcoming summer after seeing a £60m bid rebuffed.
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