Arsenal fans and Mikel Arteta will still be licking their wounds after missing out on the Premier League title.
For a number of years, Liverpool pushed, pushed and pushed. Yet, time and time again, Manchester City proved too difficult to break down.
Arsenal are now feeling what Liverpool went through all those years ago in that they can’t do much more to try and win the Premier League title.
It is now coming down to the smallest of margins. They registered 89 points this term and know that they have to, at a bare minimum, get 90+ just to give themselves that chance to become champions of England.
What do those at the Emirates do to try and ensure that they don’t repeat the same problems of losing home and away to Unai Emery’s Aston Villa?!
Ian Wright discussed the possibility of a striker coming in and how they probably need that player who can ’get a goal out of nothing’, as he told Premier League Productions (20/05/24 at 2:25 pm).
The legendary footballer feels if that player had been available against Aston Villa this season, then the team’s end result might have been different.
One man’s name Wright was keen to put forward was that of Alexander Isak after his stunning season for Newcastle United.
Sources told HITC in April that Isak and Napoli superstar Victor Osimhen are two players Arsenal are fans of ahead of the summer transfer window re-opening.
The 24-year-old scored a very impressive 21 goals from 30 matches. Even more impressive given that he only completed 90 minutes on 13 occasions.
But Wright feels ‘there is a lot of talk’ around Isak and he could now see the Swedish star in the colours of Arsenal.
Alexander Isak at Arsenal
“You know some games when it’s really tight, you can go back to the Villa game where Arsenal lost,” said Wright.
“If you had that striker who could get that goal out of nothing, it settles you down, you get the goal and you know you have somebody who could take half a chance. It’s worth its weight in gold. It gets the whole team settled. You relax and then you can start playing. If you are continually missing chances at the stage Arsenal were and none of the front guys were scoring, then you start to feel the pressure on the team. That’s what you can’t do against Man City. You have to be able to score the goals. We did score. We scored a lot of goals this season. But I am talking about changing games and changing the way you are playing the game.
“I think they would definitely look at somebody that would fit into a very technically organised side. A team that can stretch. There is a lot of talk about what’s happening with Isak at Newcastle. You look at Isak, you could say ‘yeah’. You could probably see somebody like him at Arsenal the way he plays. The way he can link up. The way Mikel would want him to play in that team if it was him or a player of that stature. But we need somebody, first and foremost, who is going to take the half-chance.”
Arsenal’s summer transfer business
In years gone by, from David Raya to Kai Havertz. Arsenal have made some big calls that probably haven’t been popular with the fans.
But now you feel that whatever road Arteta decided to go down, he has the full support of the fanbase and he will be trusted with his calls.
READ MORE: Heartbreaking behind-the-scenes photo from the Emirates Stadium emerges as Arsenal miss out on title
You also feel that who leaves the club this summer is as important as who joins because the quality Arsenal’s bench provides now needs to improve.
From Thomas Partey to someone like Gabriel Jesus. Big, big calls need to be made when the dust has finally settled on the recently concluded campaign.
- MORE: Mikel Arteta shares promise to Arsenal fans on the pitch after missing out on Premier League title