Souness declares Arteta made an error when buying Havertz 'that might cost him'

According to Graeme Souness, Mikel Arteta’s striking troubles are entirely his fault. The former Liverpool player claims that if Mikel Arteta had trusted Emile Smith Rowe, he would not have spent over £60 million on Kai Havertz. The former midfielder claims that what Havertz provides is similar to what Emile Smith-Rowe would have provided in this Arsenal team and that Arteta should have bought a quality striker last summer to rival Gabriel Jesus instead of buying the German international.

“Smith Rowe. I like him. As a midfield player, running into the box, clever passes,” Souness said on talkSPORT’s ‘Simon and Souness‘.

“Everything seems to be done when he’s sprinting, which I like. He’s a goal threat. And then Arteta spends £60 million on Havertz.

“So the point I wanted to make is that £60 million would be a fair criticism, I think. When building a football team, you want to strengthen the weakest part of the team.

“I think it was clear for most people that Arsenal needed another striker with Jesus, so you go and take Kai Havertz from Chelsea for big money when really you have a homegrown player who is every bit as good as him, so that £60 million should have been directed towards a striker.

“And that might cost him.”

Arsenal is struggling to complete a required striker deal due to FFP after their heavy spending last summer.

The Gunners have struggled in front of goal in recent games. They’ve created numerous scoring chances, but converting them has been a problem. Many people believe that a clinical striker can make Arteta’s team bad news for their opponents.

Some pundits have even stated, “If Arsenal don’t sign a striker this winter, they can forget about winning the Premier League.” Do you think they make sense?

Unfortunately, we’ll just have to wait and see if these remarks push Arteta and Edu to sign a striker before the winter transfer deadline.

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