‘That will cost them’ – Paul Merson sends Arsenal warning after £60m transfer decision
Paul Merson has revealed what “will cost” Arsenal in the Champions League this season after the summer transfer window.
The 2026/27 campaign is expected to be another special season for Arsenal, who are firm favourites to retain the Premier League title.
However, the Gunners arguably have a weaker attack this season after offloading Gabriel Martinelli, Leandro Trossard and Ethan Nwaneri and only recruiting Christos Tzolis.
And Merson thinks this will be an issue for Arsenal in the Champions League, with the pundit expecting them to “fall short” in the competition again.
“I think they’ll win the Premier League, but I think they’ll fall short in the Champions League because of not having that extra person up front,” Merson told Sky Sports.
READ: Arsenal’s predicted XI vs. Chelsea as Arteta forced into at least one change
“Havertz and Gyokeres, I like those two, but they are not going to give you sleepless nights.
“And you look on the left, you have Tzolis and Eze. Eze is a good footballer, but I think I like him more in the middle than out on the left and Tzolis is a very hard-working left winger, a manager’s dream.
“My picture is when you’re playing against PSG away and Bayern Munich away and Inter Milan away and Real Madrid and Barcelona, I can’t imagine the right-back having a sleepless night.
“I can’t imagine him tossing and turning in bed thinking, oh my god, I’ve got to play against him tonight.”
READ MORE: Romano reveals ‘special clause’ in Arsenal summer transfer as Gunners specified ‘crucial condition’
“That will cost them…”
Merson has also claimed that the decision to let Martinelli leave could “cost them” in the Champions League.
“I wouldn’t have let Trossard go, in my opinion, I think he’s a good footballer. I think he’s a clever player and has played in the big games.
“When you’re at the top, you buy players, you buy players and you stay at the top. The thing with what you’re saying about Arsenal’s forward line and the players they’ve got in their position, they’re very good in the Premier League, because teams sit back against Arsenal in the Premier League, so they haven’t got any runners.
“No one runs off the ball, Arsenal, the front players; you never see them going that way. But they’re alright, because teams sit ten behind the ball and they’ll have the guile and they’ll have the patience to break a team down.
“When you go and play PSG away and Bayern Munich away and they come and have a go at you, they won’t have that fear of that pace of Martinelli on the counter-attack, and that will cost them.”
READ NEXT: Man Utd, Arsenal and Liverpool among clubs one injury away from disaster
C
