Jamie Carragher believes Arsenal failed to sign the world-class attacking player they needed to take the club to the next level, despite strengthening several other areas of their squad during the summer transfer window.
The Gunners ended their 22-year wait for the Premier League title last season and were expected to improve their attacking options as they prepared to defend the trophy.
However, Leandro Trossard, Gabriel Jesus and Ethan Nwaneri were all allowed to leave. Nwaneri departed on loan, while Gabriel Martinelli remains in talks over a move to Al-Hilal.
Arsenal’s only attacking addition was Christos Tzolis from Club Brugge. Attempts to complete ambitious deals for Vinicius Junior and Julian Alvarez did not materialise before deadline day.
Viktor Gyokeres was Arsenal’s leading scorer in all competitions in 2025-26, with 21 goals in 55 appearances. Bukayo Saka and Kai Havertz have both made strong starts to the current campaign.
Carragher, though, believes Arsenal are still short of a decisive attacking presence – a player capable of changing important matches – and warned that failing to secure one could prove costly.
“They have got really good strikers. I like [Kai Havertz] and I think Mikel Arteta likes him, as well,” Carragher said to Sky Sports.
“[Viktor Gyokeres] has been what most people felt he would be when he came – not quite elite, but he can still score goals in certain games.
“They can still use him to do that job this season. They needed someone to be a game changer. They tried to get Vinicius, they tried to get Alvarez – that’s the calibre of player.
“It’s hard to improve Arsenal now because they are such a good team, such a strong squad. So you’re talking about a world-class player as the only one that can improve them.
“They’ve tried to get them and haven’t been able to get these deals over the line. There’s no point bringing somebody of the level that they’ve already got.
“They’ve got five or six players in attack which I would call ‘seven or eight out of 10 players.’ They wanted a ‘nine or 10 out of 10 player’ but couldn’t get it across the line.”
While Arsenal did not add another major attacking name, they strengthened elsewhere by signing Bruno Guimaraes from Newcastle United, Ezri Konsa from Aston Villa and Illan Meslier from Leeds United. They also made Piero Hincapie’s move permanent.
Mikel Arteta’s side have nevertheless started their Premier League title defence with consecutive victories and have also won the Community Shield.
Arsenal beat Aston Villa 1-0 on Monday. Since the start of March, they have kept eight Premier League clean sheets – three more than any other side. Juventus are the only team in Europe’s top five leagues to have recorded more during that period, with nine.
The victory at Villa Park was also Arsenal’s 14th Premier League win by a 1-0 scoreline across the past three seasons. No other club has recorded as many during that time; the next-best total is eight.
Arsenal now face London rivals Chelsea on Sunday as they aim to begin a top-flight campaign with three wins for only the second time in the past 21 seasons.
