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James OlleyMay 9, 2025, 09:50 AM ET
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has reiterated his tendency to motion a striker this summertime but said the presumption is 1 of the hardest to fill.
Wednesday's Champions League semifinal exit to Paris Saint-Germain means Arsenal volition extremity a 5th consecutive play without silverware contempt sustained advancement nether Arteta since taking complaint successful December 2019.
His sole trophy remains the 2020 FA Cup and Arsenal are nether unit to bolster their guardant enactment this summertime to amended their chances of adding further honours.
Sources person told ESPN that Red Bull Leipzig guardant Benjamin Sesko, Sporting Lisbon's Viktor Gyökeres and Newcastle's Alexander Isak are each connected Arsenal's shortlist and erstwhile questioned connected his tendency to bring successful a striker this summer, Arteta referenced his comments from the January model erstwhile the club made a precocious determination and failed to motion Ollie Watkins from Aston Villa.
"Do I person to marque it much clear? In January it was wide oregon not?" helium said. "I told you due to the fact that you were successful the country I deliberation galore times and it was a precise wide statement. The connection continues the same.
"I privation the champion team, the champion player. If we person 3 extremity scorers implicit 25, bring them successful and we're going to beryllium a overmuch amended team."
Pushed connected whether a apical striker was the toughest benignant of subordinate to acquire, Arteta continued: "Probably they are due to the fact that there's not that galore that enactment those numbers [up]. It's thing that's successful the stats. There's not that galore successful the Premier League.
"I volition effort to amended but surely amended the ones that we person close present and emotion the ones that we person close now.
"Especially aft losing it's excessively casual to conscionable spell and look elsewhere and don't usage the infinitesimal to justice players especially.
"Because, I was asked a batch of questions astir definite players successful this room, ever successful definite moments. But erstwhile different players person outperformed different players that we were discussing, I person zero questions successful the past 11 months.
"It's each comparative to the context, to the infinitesimal and the communicative that you privation to generate. I recognize that."
Arteta besides said Liverpool merit a defender of honour erstwhile Arsenal question to Anfield connected Sunday and said his squad had taken a measurement backwards successful the league this season.
After finishing 2nd with 89 points and scoring 91 goals, Arteta's broadside are connected 67 points with 64 goals scored up of their last 3 matches.
"In the Premier League we've gone a measurement backwards," Arteta said. "With the points that we person created it's wide that we haven't done arsenic bully arsenic past season, that's obvious.
"They merit that [a defender of honour]. They've been the champion team, they've been the astir consistent, what Arne [Slot] and the coaching unit person done has been fascinating, it's been truly bully and they afloat merit it. And that's the sport, erstwhile idiosyncratic is amended you person to applaud and judge and effort to scope that level.
"Something has to thrust you, motivate you, and symptom astir apt is simply a bully 1 to usage sometimes erstwhile you don't truly privation to bash thing but it's the close happening to do, usually arsenic a information for adjacent season."
