Arsenal legend David Seaman has called on fans to “calm down” as Mikel Arteta's position as manager comes under scrutiny following the club's struggle to sign a new striker.
The north Londoners are reportedly looking to sign Newcastle's prolific goalscorer Alexander Isak and Sporting CP hitman Viktor Gyokeres as they look to strengthen their attack. Arteta's options up front were dealt a major blow last weekend when Gabriel Jesus suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury during a disappointing FA Cup defeat to Manchester United.
With Bukayo Saka also out of action after surgery until at least March, the spotlight falls on Kai Havertz, Arsenal's leading marksman with seven goals so far. Thanks to the supporting efforts of Leandro Trossard and Gabriel Martinelli, they scored ten goals between them, while Saka and Jesus scored five and three goals respectively.
Despite being joint third top scorers in the Premier League, there is growing belief that more strength is needed to close the gap on leaders Liverpool, but securing high-profile players mid-season is notoriously difficult. Although Arteta is tied to the Emirates Stadium until 2027, rumors have swirled over his future following the departure of former Arsenal sporting director Edu last November without a successor yet named.
But Arsenal legend David Seaman has called for a sense of stability and made it clear the club's search for a new striker will not disrupt Arteta's tenure, Football London reports. Seaman discussed the pressure on Arteta and shared his thoughts on the Seaman Says podcast, as reported by Betway. 'All the reactions come from there [Arteta] hasn't brought in a real forward yet,” Seaman said. 'That's where a lot of the frustration comes in. I saw Piers Morgan talking about 'break the bank and go [Alexander] Isaac.' Okay Piers, in your world that could happen, but in the football world it's not that easy.
'Newcastle won't allow that [Isak] go anyway. It is very rare to get a big signing in the January transfer window, so this will take place in the summer. It just depends on what happens up until then. Then we see that people miss opportunities and we think that a good attacker would take away those opportunities.”
The former goalkeeper backed Arteta, insisting Arsenal are in a good place and offering words of encouragement to the fans. However, he did acknowledge the club's lack of “out and out” strikers compared to their rivals.
“But for me it is [Arteta] remains, there is no doubt about that. It is still progress,” he added. “We are still at the top, we are real contenders. Okay, it's just cooking right now, we're not cooking. I look at City: an absolute striker. “Liverpool has almost four real strikers.
“Even United have that. All these teams have real attackers. We still have the Champions League, a small chance in the league, a very, very small chance in the League Cup. But you never know. Take it easy.” A little less, Arsenal fans. We're still doing well.”
Following Arsenal's 2-1 win in the north London derby this week, Arteta made it clear that the Gunners are looking to build on their stuttering attack in January. He said: “We are definitely going to try it in the market and we want to strengthen the attack. We lost two great players, Bukayo. [Saka] for three months and Gabriel Jesus will be out for a long time.” Ahead of the match against Tottenham Hotspur, Arteta claimed he has a “very clear idea” of who he wants to sign, with the Spaniard teasing: “We know who we want to sign. “While speaking ahead of the weekend's matches, Arteta once again made it clear that the club is looking for a new striker.” We don't have that at the moment. [a striker]”, he said “We are, as I said, actively trying to find the best possible solution. We'll have to wait and see what we can do.”