Lauren exclusive: Arsenal are paying the price for one key transfer mistake under Arteta
Former Arsenal defender Lauren believes Gunners boss Mikel Arteta is paying a heavy price for failing to find a solution to one key area of his team in last summer’s transfer window.
Arsenal have won only half of their opening ten league matches this season and fell seven points behind leaders Liverpool after last weekend’s 1-0 defeat at Newcastle.
With a challenging away game against Chelsea on the horizon on Sunday, the Gunners could be a massive ten points behind Arne Slot’s Liverpool heading into the final international break of 2024.
That kind of gap may be too much to recover from and when Lauren looks at the area lacking in Arteta’s team, he returns to a topic that has been a constant course of discussion for the club’s fans over the past couple of years.
Arsenal have been Manchester City’s nearest challengers in the last two Premier League title races, but the lack of a prolific goal scorer in their line-up has been constantly cited as the primary reason why they have failed to get over the finishing line.
Lauren was part of the last Arsenal side to win the English title as they famously went through the entire season without losing a game and now he has suggested Arteta’s big transfer mistake could be fatal to their ambitions.
“I keep saying we need a different kind of striker to help the players already there and if they had that player, this team would be good enough to win the title,” former Cameroon defender Lauren told Football365 in association with NewBettingOffers.co.uk.
“Gabriel Martinelli, Gabriel Jesus, Kai Havertz are excellent players and they have been doing a good job, but we need a different type to the one we already have in the squad to take advantage of all the chances being created.
“If you look at the opportunity Newcastle last weekend and if you have someone who can take chances when they come, you can win that game. It is a very different result.
“We had a higher percentage of possession in the whole game and dominated in the last third with shots ten shots, but only one of them was on target.
“This is something I have been saying for some time. We need to put into context that we have good strikers now, but we need someone who gives something extra, something different.”
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If Arsenal lose more ground in the Premier League title race, Arteta and his team may be forced to focus on the Champions League and Lauren believes they are big contenders to lift that trophy for the first time in their history.
The Gunners have started their Champions League push impressively, with their win against Paris Saint-Germain last month inspiring Lauren to believe Arteta’s side are genuine contenders to be crowned as European champions.
“The performance in the PSG game was so impressive,” added Lauren. “I feel this team is capable of challenging in any competition when they are at their best.
“You always judge teams when they play against the big rivals in the Champions League and the PSG game should give Arsenal a lot of confidence.
“The game was one of the best I have seen from Arsenal so far this season. It showed their level is there in the Champions League and trying to maintain it.
“When you get to the knock-out stages of the Champions League, anything can happen. They have showed that they can reach that level. Let’s see if they can maintain it now.”
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