English legend Paul Merson advised his former club Arsenal to sign Romelu Lukaku to improve their attack, after losing steam and missing out on the Premier League title.
Arsenal have led the Premier League for 93% of the season and even opened up an eight-point gap with Man City in early April. However, Mikel Arteta's team ran out of steam in the decisive stages, winning just two of their last eight games, thereby losing the top spot and the championship to Man City.
According to Merson - who won two English championships, an FA Cup, a League Cup and a Community Shield with Arsenal, Arteta's problem is finding depth, especially in the striker position. "Arsenal's squad is not strong enough to win the championship and needs to strengthen the quality of players," Merson said on May 22 on GiveMeSport . "Man City are superior to the rest, and Arsenal have to become stronger to compete. They need a striker who can score 25 goals a season."
Lukaku dominated the Milan defense in the first leg of the Champions League semi-final on May 10. Photo: Reuters
The 55-year-old midfielder stressed that he meant no disrespect to Gabriel Jesus, praising the Brazilian striker as a good player and an excellent signing for Arsenal. However, Merson said that Jesus "is not the type of striker who can play independently and score a lot of goals".
In the summer of 2022, Arsenal beat Tottenham to sign Jesus from Man City for $55 million. The Brazilian striker contributed 10 goals and six assists in 25 Premier League matches, but was out for three months due to a knee injury at the 2022 World Cup.
Merson has suggested that Arsenal should sign Lukaku. "Romelu could be ready this summer. The 30-year-old is a complete centre-forward, a dominant player who can dominate defenders. Such a striker would be useful for Arsenal," the former England midfielder said.
Lukaku is currently playing for Inter Milan on loan from Chelsea, scoring 13 goals in 33 matches in all competitions, winning the Italian Super Cup with the club, finishing third in Serie A, reaching the Italian Cup final against Fiorentina on May 24 and the Champions League final against Man City on June 10.
Lukaku will return to Stamford Bridge in the summer of 2023 and clarify his future with Mauricio Pochettino - who has reached an agreement to succeed Frank Lampard from next season. British newspaper Sportmail commented that Chelsea could sell the Belgian striker when the first-team squad currently has 30 players.
Merson also sees Ivan Toney - who has scored 20 goals for Brentford this season - as a potential solution. But he admits Arsenal will not sign Toney, after the England striker was suspended by the Football Association (FA) and banned from all football-related activity for eight months for breaching betting rules.
According to transfer expert Fabrizio Romano, Arsenal's priority in the summer of 2023 is to strengthen the midfield. The Emirates Stadium owner is targeting Declan Rice (West Ham), Moises Caicedo (Brighton) and is likely to push Granit Xhaka to Leverkusen for a fee of 16 million USD.
Hong Duy
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