6 months ago
13 Arsenal finished the Premier League season two points behind Manchester City.
The Gunners came close to winning the title but it was Pep Guardiola’s Man City again that clinched the league.
Man City won their fourth Premier League title in a row, which is a record in the top flight of England.
Mikel Arteta’s team finished the 2022-23 season five points behind Man City, while they closed the gap and finished two points behind them in the 2023-24 season.
They are closing the gap but in order to win the league title, former midfielder Cesc Fabregas feels they should sign a prolific striker who can score 30 goals in the season.
The difference in the leading scorer of both teams tell a clear story how Man City are ruthless upfront as compared to the Gunners.
Erling Haaland finished the season with 27 Premier League goals, winning the golden boot for the second season running.
Meanwhile, Bukayo Saka was Arsenal’s top scorer with 16 goals. The Gunners lack a top quality striker and Fabregas feels if they can sign such a player, they can end Man City’s dominance.
Fabregas responded when asked if Arteta needed one or two elite acquisitions or additional cover on the BBC Sounds Planet Premier League podcast.
Arsenal lack a ruthless striker in their squad.
He said:
‘I think it’s funny because the other day you are watching both games at the same time and when you think about it you say, “Wow, Man City really have like two teams basically that could win the Premier League”.
‘Arsenal don’t in this regard, so for me it’s a bit of everything.
‘Yes, they do need a bit of depth to keep pushing, pushing, pushing during the season and not rely always on Saka or [Declan] Rice or [Thomas] Partey if he’s injured or not or on [William] Saliba.
‘But also, in my opinion – and he’s done really, really well but obviously it’s not his main position – Havertz, he’s had a fantastic season, but if Arsenal can manage to get a top, top striker that can guarantee you 30 goals a season, then they will be much, much, much closer to getting it [the title].’
Arteta is looking for a new striker this summer and the unavailability of a top class striker in the squad is an issue he is keen to address.
Arsenal desperately need a new attacker
With Gabriel Jesus and Eddie Nketiah not scoring enough goals, the Gunners fell short of winning the league and going past the quarterfinal stage in the Champions League.
Kai Havertz has played as a false nine for Arsenal this year and has performed surprisingly well but like Fabregas says, that is not his natural position.
The North London club need a ruthless striker who can also share the burden of scoring goals as well as give them a cutting edge against teams who sit deep against Arsenal.
