Arsenal were thrashed 4-1 by Manchester City in the Premier League on Wednesday. Manchester City duo Erling Haaland and Kelvin De Bruyne exposed Arsenal’s defense.
The absence of French international William Saliba has affected Arsenal’s recent performance and was evident in their recent defeat to Manchester City. In their absence, Mikel Arteta has opted for Rob Holding and Gabriel Magalhaes as the defensive pair for Arsenal.
With Arsenal’s Champions League qualification for next season now secured, William Gallas believes Arsenal needs to sign at least three defenders.
What did William Gallas say?
He said via Genting Casino: “Next season, Arsenal will play in the Champions League.
“That is a big competition that everyone wants to play in. I think that Arsenal needs to add one experienced player at the back.
“You want that player to create competition within the squad and put pressure on William Saliba and Gabriel. You also want that player to help William Saliba and Gabriel improve because they are both still young, and they can improve parts of their game.
“After that, you’re looking for Arteta to make sure that he finds the right balance and can rotate the squad to handle the demands of competing in the Champions League and the Premier League.
“If you look at the left back, I’m not sure what will happen with Kieran Tierney in the summer, but if he leaves, then they will need to add another player that can come in and compete with Zinchenko.
“He needs to be under more pressure. I don’t think he is a brilliant defender – but we all know what he can do with the ball. You also need a top-class right back.
“This season Ben White has helped out there and it works against the smaller teams. However, when the level is higher, it is much more difficult for him to get forward and so he makes more mistakes defensively.”
Former Arsenal striker Alan Smith also insists Arsenal needs three more signings to close the gap between them and Manchester City.
He told SkySports: “I think you’re probably looking through the heart of the team, through the center.
“We’ve obviously seen how they’ve suffered without Wiliam Saliba, and the drop-off was quite drastic, really; no manager would want to see that, so they miss the Frenchman.
“Thomas Partey has been a bit in and out this season; when Xhaka didn’t play, they missed him certainly.
“There’s been a lot of attention on Arsenal’s central midfield, possibly Declan Rice coming. That’s going to be a saga in the summer. Where’s the West Ham midfielder going to end up? It looks like he’s going to leave the Hammers.
“Possibly another forward to compete with Jesus, they’ve got Eddie Nketiah, but I think the center-half and the central midfielder will start games.
“[Jakub] Kiwior, the defender who came in in January, could develop into a very good player so that might be a bit premature because they bought one in Kiwior but Mikel Arteta didn’t feel he was ready yet and Rob Holding got the shout.”
