Arsenal legend Ian Wright believes the Gunners don’t need to sign a no.9 during the summer transfer window.
There has been constant speculation that Mikel Arteta’s side will pursue a striker but Wright claims his former club should be focused on strengthening three other positions instead:
“Everyone’s talked about a centre forward, but as difficult as it’s been, we can deal with the hit of not having that out-and-out centre forward. I think we need cover for Bukayo Saka, we need cover for William Saliba, and another midfielder probably.”
“You look at what Manchester City are capable of doing in respect of bringing players in. You have to have somebody to come in who can challenge William Saliba for his position, because we need to strengthen the whole squad – look at our bench.”
You do get where Wright is coming from
Arsenal scored 91 goals and accrued 89 points last season despite the club’s main no.9, Gabriel Jesus, scoring only 4 times in the league.
With Bukayo Saka, Leandro Trossard, Kai Havertz and Martin Odegaard all getting into double figures, there is an argument to say that the Gunners could get away with not having a 20+ goal a season forward. To get to the next level, though, you do feel an improvement is required in the striker department.
Arsenal are keen on recruiting a prolific scorer
There is a case for investing in other areas of the pitch, as Wright points out, but the rumours coming out of the Emirates do suggest that a new no.9 will be targeted.
Sporting director Edu seems to have identified a few names for the position, including RB Leipzig’s Benjamin Sesko, Newcastle’s Alexander Isak and Sporting Lisbon’s Viktor Gyokeres. It remains to be seen which one will emerge as the preferred option.
