Merson reveals massive Arsenal transfer BLUNDER that will destroy Champions League hopes
Paul Merson believes that Arsenal’s decision to sell Gabriel Martinelli and, to a lesser extent, Leandro Trossard this summer will hold them back from going one step further and winning the Champions League this season.
Brazilian forward Martinelli completed his £60million switch to Saudi Pro League side Al Hilal on Thursday, which was a club-record sale for the Gunners, while Trossard joined Turkish giants Besiktas earlier in the summer.
Club Brugge attacker Christos Tzolis is the effective replacement for both players, with Arsenal trying and failing to bring in a marquee signing on the left flank.
Real Madrid superstar Vinicius Junior was the highest-profile target after a stand-off with the LaLiga side over a contract extension, only for the Brazilian to eventually put pen-to-paper on a new deal at the Santiago Bernabeu.
Although not traditionally a left-winger, the Gunners also missed out on Morgan Rogers to Chelsea, despite the England star favouring a switch to north London.
And while Merson believes Arsenal are still the team to beat in domestic football, the former Gunners playmaker thinks their transfer business in the final third of the pitch will ultimately cost them when it comes to taking that next step and winning the Champions League, after their loss to PSG in last season’s final.
Arsenal missing one more forward
“I think they’ll win the Premier League, but I think they’ll fall short in the Champions League because of not having that extra person up front,” Merson told Sky Sports.
“Havertz and Gyokeres, I like those two, but they are not going to give you sleepless nights.
“And you look on the left, you have Tzolis and Eze. Eze is a good footballer, but I think I like him more in the middle than out on the left and Tzolis is a very hard-working left winger, a manager’s dream.
“My picture is when you’re playing against PSG away and Bayern Munich away and Inter Milan away and Real Madrid and Barcelona, I can’t imagine the right-back having a sleepless night.
“I can’t imagine him tossing and turning in bed thinking, oh my god, I’ve got to play against him tonight.”
Merson then added: “I wouldn’t have let Trossard go, in my opinion, I think he’s a good footballer. I think he’s a clever player and has played in the big games.
“When you’re at the top, you buy players, you buy players and you stay at the top. The thing with what you’re saying about Arsenal’s forward line and the players they’ve got in their position, they’re very good in the Premier League, because teams sit back against Arsenal in the Premier League, so they haven’t got any runners.
“No one runs off the ball, Arsenal, the front players; you never see them going that way. But they’re alright, because teams sit ten behind the ball and they’ll have the guile and they’ll have the patience to break a team down.
“When you go and play PSG away and Bayern Munich away and they come and have a go at you, they won’t have that fear of that pace of Martinelli on the counter-attack, and that will cost them.”
