Arsenal can’t beat Man City with Rice and Timber — Petit

In an exclusive interview with SPORTbible, former Arsenal player and legend Emmanuel Petit has expressed his belief that Arsenal will require further signings to pose a serious challenge to Manchester City in the upcoming Premier League season.

Mikel Arteta’s side has been active in the early stages of the summer transfer window, making significant moves to strengthen their squad. The Gunners have already completed the signing of Kai Havertz for a reported fee of £65 million.

Moreover, it has recently been revealed that Arsenal has agreed to a monumental £105 million deal with West Ham United for the highly sought-after midfielder, Declan Rice. In addition, they are set to finalize a £38.5 million transfer for Ajax defender Jurrien Timber.

The acquisition of Rice would not only smash Arsenal’s current transfer record of £72 million (paid for Nicolas Pepe from Lille in 2019) but also approach the British transfer record set by Chelsea’s £106.8 million signing of Enzo Fernandez in January.

Despite these substantial investments, Emmanuel Petit, who played a key role in Arsenal’s 1997/98 Premier League and FA Cup double-winning campaign, believes that the Gunners still lack the necessary squad depth to compete with Manchester City for the Premier League title.

Petit acknowledged the quality that Rice would bring to the Arsenal squad but stressed the need for additional signings to bridge the gap with the reigning champions.

In his conversation with SPORTbible, courtesy of DAZN Bet, the Frenchman stated, “It’s one step further, but they need to bring in more players if they want to compete for the title, or at least reduce the gap with Manchester City.”

He continued, “If you want to compete for the best prizes in England or Europe, you need to put the money on the table. It’s been like that for ages in football, but it’s more obvious in the modern game.”

Petit emphasized that although spending over £200 million to improve the team’s quality is commendable, it may still fall short in challenging the dominance of Manchester City.

While Petit believes Arsenal could potentially compete for a place on the podium, he questioned their readiness to overcome Manchester City, who have clinched five Premier League titles in the last six years and consistently invested heavily in player recruitment.

As Arsenal’s spending in this transfer window surpasses £200 million, fans will eagerly await further developments as Arteta and the club’s hierarchy determine the necessary additions to strengthen the squad ahead of the new season.