Mikel Arteta has just three players at his disposal who would get into the squads of Liverpool and Manchester City.
That’s the view of former Liverpool star Stan Collymore, who reckons but for Arsenal ’s bright young things, Arteta’s squad is still a long way off competing with the really big boys of the Premier League. Mirror Sport columnist Collymore said: “Arsenal’s youngsters are the real deal — Bukayo Saka, Emile Smith Rowe and Gabriel Martinelli.
“But the problem is for Arsenal, they may get picked off if the Gunners don’t get to the Promised Land of winning trophies in the next couple of years. I could certainly see Liverpool and the two Manchester clubs being interested in Saka, Smith Rowe and Martinelli — they have a chance of getting into one of those clubs in the next four or five years if they keep developing.
“But if we ring-fence the kids at Arsenal, how many of the others are getting into the top two or three? Hardly any. At 23, Martin Odegaard is still obviously a young man and he has had a strange experience in going to Real Madrid and being touted as the next wonder-kid and it not quite happening for him at the Bernabeu.
“But I’m not convinced he’s a 38-game-a-season, eight goals and six assists attacking midfielder. Whereas Smith Rowe, Saka and Martinelli will end up being the real deal and being targets for such as Manchester City if this season or in seasons to come Arsenal don’t get into the top four.
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“Thomas Partey is good on his day, Aaron Ramsdale is good on his day, Kieran Tierney is decent. But is Tiernay going to displace Andy Robertson at Liverpool or Joao Cancelo at City? He’s good but it’s a big step up if he is going to be talked about in the same vein as those two. So Arsenal are okay, good even, and they will win the majority of their games.
And if they get into the top four this time it’s an achievement for Mikel Arteta and his squad. “I still think they will have been massively helped by Tottenham and Manchester United, though, and in other seasons it will take much more to get into the Champions League places. The thing for Arsenal is that winning the majority of games isn’t winning that 10 per cent that stands you out as special.
“And other than the mercurial kids, who they shouldn’t be counting on at this stage of the season anyway, I’ve seen nothing at Arsenal to convince me of the coaching staff and playing staff’s ability to get that 10 per cent. The squad needs a lot of work and, first things first, Arteta needs to improve the spine of the team and they need a goalscorer, everyone who watches football recognises that.”
