Arteta accepts Arsenal need ‘firepower’ in the transfer market

AFP | London

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Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta said yesterday the Gunners must be in the market to sign the best players to bolster a squad he accepts lacks “firepower”.

Arteta’s men will end the season without a trophy for the fifth consecutive year as injuries to Kai Havertz, Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Jesus and the lack of a prolific striker blunted their challenge for silverware.

Arsenal, currently second in the Premier League behind already-crowned champions Liverpool and beaten in the Champions League semifinals by Paris Saint-Germain, will round off another frustrating season, away to relegated Southampton on Sunday.

Real Madrid’s Rodrygo is the latest star forward to be linked with a move to the Emirates after links to Newcastle’s Alexander Isak and Viktor Gyokeres of Sporting Lisbon.

“If you want to win major trophies, you have to be the best in the market, no? The teams that win always have the best players,” said Arteta.

“I wouldn’t like to name a player, but there is pride because we have brought the club into a position that next season people are saying: ‘You have to win a major trophy.’ And that means that everybody believes, and that we are an elite team in this country and in Europe. The biggest statement is that Arsenal is there.”