It’s long been assumed that the capital club, who are now six seasons into the stewardship of Mikel Arteta, would utilise time and resources to secure the services of a natural-born marksman, but their winter window activity was non-existent.
Especially in the absence of the talismanic Bukayo Saka, the second-placed outfit – who remain among the favourites in the Champions League, too – are lacking potency in front of goal, allowing runaway leaders Liverpool to earn a 13-point gap at the summit.
GIVEMESPORT Key Statistic: Arsenal, in terms of points, are closer to 10th place than they are to table-topping Liverpool.
On why Arsenal, who are keen to add silverware to their trophy cabinet under Arteta’s watch this season, Neville – widely regarded as one of the best right-backs in Premier League history – believes Raheem Sterling’s last-gasp summer addition has a part to play.
“Do you know what I think they’ve done? In the last part of the summer transfer window, I’m not sure Arsenal wanted to sign Raheem Sterling,” Neville said on the latest episode of The Overlap with Sky Bet.
Since joining the club on a temporary basis in the summer of 2024, Sterling – despite Arsenal's exhaustive list of injuries – has struggled to cement himself as a regular starter. At the time of writing, he's notched one goal and two assists in 844 minutes of action.
“I’m not sure Arsenal, as a club, wanted him,” Neville added before explaining Arteta’s influence. “I think Arteta thought Sterling can play in all positions up top and has basically told the club to get him in as cover. I think that’s what he said.”
Because the powers that be on the red side of north London were behind Arteta in terms of striking a deal for the out-of-sorts Chelsea man and that hasn’t worked out, Neville believes they are now tentative to allow the Spaniard full reign over new faces.
He can play across the frontline, so Arteta has looked at him as his second or third striker. They’ve ended up backing him and I think that’s put them off doing another deal in January of the same ilk because they’re thinking ‘We brought Sterling in and Arteta hasn’t really used him.
Watch Neville's full explanation below:
Writing in his exclusive GIVEMESPORT newsletter, Fabrizio Romano has reported that there is nothing concrete in terms of Arsenal taking advantage of the free agent market to alleviate their ongoing deficiencies in the final third.
“At the moment still nothing concrete or advanced, still on the same position regarding a striker. Let’s see if an opportunity appears, but I’m told it’s still a quiet situation and Martinelli’s return is also getting closer now.”
Arsenal's 2024/25 Squad Ranked
As things stand, Arteta and his entourage’s hand is being forced into playing Mikel Merino, a central midfielder by trade, in the centre forward berth due to having a threadbare squad. When doing so, they’ve failed to pick up a victory.
From a summer transfer window perspective, according to Ben Jacobs, the north Londoners are ‘frontrunners’ in the multi-club race for RB Leipzig talisman Benjamin Sesko’s signature – but whether a move materialises remains to be seen.
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