Ian Wright suggests Arsenal star in ‘nightmare’ was needless signing amid ‘four away’ from title claim

Arsenal legend Ian Wright claims his former club didn’t need to sign one of the players they bought during last summer’s transfer window.

Wright has reflected on Arsenal’s Champions League exit after Mikel Arteta‘s side came up short against Paris Saint-Germain in the semi-finals of the competition.

PSG were the deserved victors over two legs as their deep squad helped them to turn the tide, while Arsenal had limited options from the bench.

Injuries have ravaged the Gunners this season and their backup options have not stepped up, with recent failures ensuring they are going another year without a trophy.

Arsenal have been punished for opting against signing a striker in recent windows as injuries to Gabriel Jesus and Kai Havertz have forced Arteta to use Mikel Merino as a makeshift striker.

Their priority will be to sign a new striker this summer, but they are also expected to target upgrades in other positions and Wright claims they are “three or four” additions away from “winning” the Premier League and Champions League.

“We could finish second three times but we’re doing that with a team that he’s had to build, players that he’s had to move on. The way he has got the club together, got the fans involved,” the Arsenal icon said on his Wrighty’s House podcast.

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“As Arsenal fans, we now have to double down on the support that we give to this manager and the team. Look how close they got and they’re down to the bare bones.

“We literally couldn’t bring anyone off the bench to help that game in the semi-final of the Champions League.

“That is the only thing that I will point a finger at in respects of the recruitment and this is why I’m hoping that Andrea Berta has got his book out and he’s ready to go because we are three or four players away from winning the league and winning the Champions League.”

Wright has also explained why he does not think Arsenal needed to sign Riccardo Calafiori last summer, with the left-back, who was bought in a deal worth around £42m, has been suffering a “nightmare” amid injuries and the “emergence of Myles Lewis-Skelly”.

“You can say January, but you can go back further to the summer,” Wright added.

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“I think [Mikel] Merino has shown his worth. Obviously, [Riccardo] Calafiori has been out for quite a long time since he’s been there and that’s been a bit of a nightmare simply because we got [Takehiro] Tomiyasu from Bologna and he’s had problems with injuries. Calafiori is now having problems with injuries.

“You think to yourself: was that the priority then? That window was the one where we should have been looking hard for the striker.

“Especially with the emergence of Myles Lewis-Skelly in that Calafiori anyway, apart from maybe centre-back. But left-back going into midfield, we know that Calafiori can do that.

“You look at the fact we’ve got Myles who can do that and that’s the window I will look back at.

“We cannot not say that the injuries have not impacted us because I do believe it makes a massive difference to this season, not just this competition. But at the same time I won’t make that excuse just like the manager hasn’t made the excuse.

“It’s a learning curve. We need an unbelievable summer because you look at our team and we’re not a million miles away from it.”