Arsenal need to make four top signings in the summer in order to remain competitive.
That is the view of former Liverpool attacker and CaughtOffside columnist Stan Collymore, who believes the Gunners need to spend, and spend big if they’re to challenge again for the Premier League title next season and beyond.
Despite leading the table for the majority of the season, a recent run of poor results, including a 4-1 thrashing against defending champions Manchester City on Wednesday, has seen Arsenal falter at the most crucial time.
Now, with just a handful of games remaining and looking unlikely to beat Pep Guardiola’s emphatic Cityzens, Arsenal, although set to take the positives away from this campaign, regardless of what happens between now and the end of May, must remain active in the market if they’re to kick on.
“This was their chance to upset the odds and win their first title since 2004, and unfortunately, after being thumped 4-1 by Manchester City on Wednesday, that now looks very unlikely to happen,” Collymore said in an exclusive interview.
“My worry for the Gunners next season is that the majority of clubs are going to be better. Manchester United will improve after Erik Ten Hag’s completes his first full season in charge, Manchester City will go again, Newcastle United are a team on the up, Brighton, Aston Villa and Brentford are all improving and Chelsea can’t get any worse, so for that reason alone, they can only get better.
“Whether or not Arsenal can remain competitive, not only in the league but also in the Champions League, will depend hugely on who they bring in during the summer transfer window.”
Acknowledging their relatively small squad, and how important this summer is going to be for manager Mikel Arteta, Collymore highlighted four positions that may need reinforcing, including providing Gabriel Jesus with some striking competition and finding a replacement for Ben White at right-back.
“I think a striker to rival Gabriel Jesus and a new midfielder would be smart moves, purely because of how many games they’re going to be playing and it will be unrealistic to expect Granit Xhaka, Thomas Partey and Martin Odegaard to play every game,” he added.
“Obviously, Jude Bellingham would be every club’s pick when it comes to a central midfielder, but if Arsenal can’t compete for him, they should definitely look to sign Declan Rice.
“I also think their defence could do with some improvement if the room in the budget allows for it. I really like William Saliba but out of the four, I am not sure any get into Manchester City’s starting lineup. Ben White at right-back has done okay, but I’m not convinced he’s good enough in that position to become a Premier League-winning full-back, so if I was Arteta or Edu, I would be drawing up a shortlist of strikers, midfielders, centre-backs and right-backs.”
White has experienced a fairly good season. Although played at full-back, the Englishman, who earns £120,000-per week (Spotrac), has provided the necessary cover for the injury-stricken Takehiro Tomiyasu. But when it comes to the importance of having solid wide defenders, there is no league that demonstrates it more than the Premier League.
Guardiola has spent a fortune on full-backs over the years at City and with Ten Hag rumoured to be in the market for a new right-back, despite already having two of the best in the league among his options, it really does go to show how significant the full-back position has become in modern football.