Former Arsenal star Emmanuel Petit fears Arsenal missed a trick by allowing Rayan Cherki to affix Manchester City in the summertime.
The previous Lyon attacking midfielder made a slow begin to life under Pep Guardiola, but has played an increasingly influential role over the course of the previous couple of months.
While Pep Guardiola’s Premier League rivals were spending huge sums last summer bolstering their forward options, Cherki cost a comparatively modest £35million.
The France international’s entertaining style has decorated City’s recent run of form which has seen his side pull onto the coattails of Arsenal ahead of Sunday’s summit meeting on the Etihad.
Arsenal’s title tilt has been largely founded on a steely defence and a reliance on set-pieces, with goals from open play in increasingly short supply.
Noni Madueke, Eberechi Eze and Viktor Gyokeres were signed last summer but none has managed to match the impact Cherki has made at his recent club.
The Gunners are already being linked with moves for further reinforcements when the transfer window reopens with Newcastle’s Anthony Gordon much admired by Mikel Arteta.
Petit is a fan of the England international as well, but won’t give you the chance to assist himself making envious glances at Cherki when he lines up against Arsenal this afternoon.
‘Anthony Gordon to Arsenal?’ Petit told Andy’s Bet Club. ‘I do know if Arsenal want to succeed in the following step, which implies playing probably higher football, good football the entire season, they should bring talented wingers.
‘Have a look at Bayern Munich. Have a look at Paris Saint-Germain. Those teams who play excellent, controlling football and are winning one of the best prizes have that type of player.
‘Arsenal have Bukayo Saka, who has been injured and had a very bad season thus far. Noni Madueke, for me, is player, but he’s not amongst one of the best on this position.
‘It’s quite the identical on the left wing with Gabriel Martinelli and Leandro Trossard. I even have respect for them, they’re good players, but they are usually not amongst one of the best of their position.
‘So, for Arsenal, I feel that is the missing piece. They need a striker as well, but I feel the standard on the flanks is what the attack has been affected by sometimes.
‘As I said, I feel Arsenal has to vary the competition for these positions.
‘They should bring talented players and doubtless also someone who can control the sport in midfield, who has vision and may be the link between the midfield and the striker, identical to Rayan Cherki is doing at City.
‘I wish Cherki would have gone to Arsenal. I used to be saying that for months and months last season. Pep Guardiola knows what it takes to bring that type of player.
‘Arsenal is a excellent team, but there are two big questions for them. First, that you must win something. It’s essential to keep the spine of the team, identical to you will have been doing for the last couple of seasons. But when you don’t win anything, it could change into very difficult for some players.
‘Some players will probably knock on the manager’s door, saying, ‘I’m drained, I need to win trophies, and I’m not confident I can win it here.’
‘The second big query is, In case you do win trophies and also you keep your best players, then that you must add more quality on the flank. Definitely.’
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