Gary Neville tells Arsenal to sign two players after Premier League title win
Gary Neville believes there are two areas Arsenal will ‘need to think about’ in the summer transfer window after a season in which they became Premier League champions.
Mikel Arteta successfully guided Arsenal to their first Premier League title in 22 years after three successive second-place finishes.
Arsenal’s status as Premier League champions was confirmed on Tuesday night after title rivals Manchester City slipped up at Bournemouth.
The Gunners celebrated their newfound status by beating Crystal Palace 2-1 on the final day of the season, before Arteta and his players finally got their hands on the Premier League trophy.
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Neville, who won eight Premier League titles at Manchester United, was keen to ‘congratulate’ Arsenal on their triumph and said it was a ‘massive’ achievement for Arteta and his squad.
The ex-England defender was reluctant to rate Arsenal’s chances of retaining their Premier League trophy next season but insisted the club would need to bolster Arteta’s squad again in the summer.
Neville also suggested a new striker to compete with Viktor Gyokeres and another midfielder to support the likes of Declan Rice and Martin Zubimendi would be beneficial as Arsenal look to go back-to-back.
‘This is the first time I’ve been working since Arsenal won the league so a huge congratulations to Arsenal,’ he said on The Gary Neville Podcast.
‘What a journey they’ve been on and they’ve got over the line now. They’ve been knocking on the door for four or five years and credit to the Arsenal hierarchy for building a plan and sticking with it.
‘Credit to Mikel Arteta because this is a game-changer for him, he’s a champion manager now. It’s massive for him and it’s massive for these Arsenal players, it really is.’
Neville added: ‘Arsenal will need to add again [in the transfer market] but at this point right now when they’ve won the title and got a Champions League final I don’t want to focus on that.
‘I’m not in that mood and I’m actually really happy for them. It’s not the time to start talking about Arsenal being built for a second title run.
‘Let’s be clear, they have to be. But I can’t give that too much consideration given we’ve got a Champions League final and a World Cup coming up.
‘We’ll start to think about those things nearer the time and do they need another centre forward as back-up to Viktor Gyokeres? Do they need another central midfielder in case Declan Rice or Martin Zubimendi aren’t quite there?
‘There’s probably a couple of positions that Arsenal will still want to think about but they’ve got a lot of strength in that squad.’
Arsenal have already been installed as the bookmakers’ favourites to win the Premier League again next season and club legend Ian Wright can understand why.
‘You hope this could be the start of something for Arsenal,’ he said on Sky Sports. ‘Pep Guardiola is leaving Man City and we’re not sure what’s happening with some of the other clubs.
‘This is a time when you look at Arsenal’s team, the average age is 24 to 28 and players will want to come to Arsenal now.
‘It’s now up to Arteta and Berta who they want to bring in to continue this. There is a window for Arsenal before everyone else catches up. So, I’m hoping we can take advantage of that.’
Jamie Redknapp also believes Arsenal fans can be optimistic going into next season, saying: ‘The dangerous thing for everyone else in the Premier League now right now is Arsenal could be strong for the next few years.
‘They have good young players coming through. They are going to go again.
‘London is a great proposition for players. Arsenal are the Premier league title winners. Anyone that wants to be serious about their football will be looking at joining Arsenal.’
Arsenal have a chance to complete an incredible double next weekend as they face PSG in the final of the Champions League.
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المصدر: Metro UK
