“Panic buy” – Arsenal legend criticises recent signing, claims Arteta wanted this player instead



Former Arsenal midfielder Emmanuel Petit has suggested Raheem Sterling was a panic buy this summer and that Mikel Arteta wanted Nico Williams instead.

The Gunners brought Sterling in on loan from Chelsea late on in the summer, and it’s fair to say the England international hasn’t contributed very much in his brief time at the Emirates Stadium so far.

Petit has suggested Sterling is now past his best and wasn’t really Arsenal’s first choice, with Arteta supposedly “dreaming” of signing Athletic Bilbao and Spain winger Williams instead.

Petit, who won the double with Arsenal back in 1997/98, believes Williams does not want to move to the Premier League, however, and expects the 22-year-old to at some point move to Barcelona instead.

Should Arsenal have waited for Nico Williams?

Raheem Sterling of Arsenal (Photo by George Wood/Getty Images)

Discussing Sterling’s struggles with Instant Casino, as quoted by the Metro, Petit said: “Raheem Sterling was a panic buy.

“For me, Mikel Arteta knows that he’s missing players, numbers in his squad, quality players in terms of rotation.

“He knows that, so at the end of the transfer market during the summer, he knew that he had no choice just to get Sterling because he didn’t want to put the big money on the table for other players.

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“I know that he was dreaming about Nico Williams, but he will never come to the Premier League. He will stay in Spain; he will go to Barcelona. Definitely.

“Sterling has been living a nightmare for years now. I think Sterling is probably one of the best examples of what life in the Premier League can do to a player that has tastes success after success after success.”


 

Williams would undoubtedly have been a level above Sterling if such a move had been possible, but it definitely seems like one that would’ve been highly ambitious.

Arsenal will have to make do with Sterling for now, but it’s certainly hard to see the 29-year-old staying in north London beyond the end of his loan spell.