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Former Arsenal man Jay Bothroyd says that the Gunners will need a new striker, should they improve on their second-place finish next term.
Arsenal pushed Manchester City close in the title race but finished comfortably second behind the champions in the end, stumbling across the finish line and allowing their rivals to win the title with three games to spare.
Now, Bothroyd says that Arsenal will need to be more clinical in front of goal, should they close that gap.
When asked which players he’d like to sell and bring in, Bothroyd answered, “It’s a tough one because the players I’d want to sell would be the players that I think are not playing that often – but could command a transfer fee to raise the money for the three I’d want to come in.
“The first one I’d say would be [Folarin] Balogun. He’s been playing in France this year. I’d sell him because he’s done so well, you could get £40 million-ish, I would say. I think [Granit] Xhaka – he’s in his 30s, he wants a longer-term contract and I’m not sure he’d get that at Arsenal. And I’d probably say Eddie Nketiah as well. Even though he stood in for [Gabriel] Jesus this year, I think he needs to play week in, week out for his own career.
“Coming in, it’s a strange one. You obviously want the best players in the world to come but Arsenal’s problem this year has been the depth in the squad. Arsenal don’t have the spending power that Manchester City and Chelsea have.
“A lot of talk has been made of Declan Rice coming in this year. As much as I think he’s a top midfield player… I want to go with numbers to play midweek and on a Saturday. So players I would like to see coming in… I’d like to see [Moises] Caicedo coming in, that kind of defensive midfield player. He can also play right-back – which is a problem for Arsenal. Ben White has been playing there this year and I see more as a centre-back.
“Then I would go with [Alexis] Mac Allister from Brighton as well. He’s a fantastic player, he can play in that Xhaka position in off the left… and he’s someone I can see help Arsenal going forward.
“And then I would say we need a striker. An out-and-out striker. Gabriel Jesus has been very good for Arsenal but a lot of his best work comes from the wide areas. So for me, I don’t look at him as an out-and-out striker. He doesn’t convince me that he can score 20 Premier League goals every year. For me, I’d want to see [Victor] Osimhen come from Napoli. He’s strong, he’s powerful, good link-up play, he’s fast and he’s got an eye for goal. They’re my three I’d like to see this year.”
