Alan Shearer has claimed that the failure of Arsenal to sign a striker took the club the chance to win the Premier League this season.
The Gunners did not succeed in recruiting a striker in recent transfer penters, where Kai Havertz had operated on the majority of the season as a spearhead in their attack.
Havertz's seasonal hamstring injury turned out to be a harmful blow to the Gunners, who had already limited their attacking options because of the absence of Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Jesus and Gabriel Martinelli.
Arsenal suffered a 1-0 defeat against West Ham and had a scoreless draw with Nottingham Forest in their Premier League matches.
Due to the results, the Gunners were raised 13 points from League Liverpool, with the side of Mikel Arteta who looks so to end up as second for the third consecutive season.
Shearer spoke at Amazon Prime for Arsenal's Last-16spel with PSV, Shearer claimed that there would have been a 'arteta' side of arteta if they had signed a productive attacker.
Whose decision was it not to get it in January and the start of the season? They then needed one, let alone in January, “said Shearer, the Premier League record goalscorer.
'Was Mikel Arteta say no, I am happy with the team I have, or he says I want a striker for me, and they fail to deliver him.
'We don't know, so it's hard to comment on it, but that's what they missed and that's what they miss. For me there is no doubt that they would win the competition if they had a big striker.
'If you come to the knockouts, the large Center-Forwards make a difference. In terms of silverware they have to put everything in here. '
This season, Havertz is the top scorer of Arsenal in the Premier League with nine goals in 21 performances, followed by Martinelli and Saka, who have six and five goals respectively.
Liverpool's striving for the title, on the other hand, was led by the 25 league goals of Mohamed Salah.
Salah is supported by a strong supporting cast, in which Luis Diaz and Cody Gakpo have achieved nine and eight goals respectively.
Former striker of England and Man United Wayne Rooney supported the assessment of Shearer.
However, Rooney was sympathetic to the Gunners' decision not to sign an attacker in January, but claimed that their failure to reinforce a big mistake in the attack.
“It wasn't a striker to get the biggest mistake in the summer,” said Rooney.
'In January it is difficult to get the right player in January. The priority must be a number nine, that position is so important to have a target scorer that can achieve 20, 30-one goals. '
Arsenal has played midfielder Mikel Merino in an improvised forward role in recent competitions in the midst of their shortage of forward options.
Despite their limited options in attack, the Gunners scored three first half goals against PSV in the Last-16-significance of the Champions League, with Merino joining Jurrien Timber and Ethan Nwaneri under the scorers.
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