Thierry Henry has criticised Mikel Arteta for his failure to sign the talented striker, saying the Arsenal manager 'had time to get a No 9'.
The north London club finished second to Premier League champions Liverpool this season and failed to add to their haul of the only trophy, the 2020 FA Cup, that Arteta has won in his five-and-a-half years in charge.
While admitting fitness issues played a part, the Gunners' top scorer singled out the absence of a striker as the main issue.
Henry shared on the Overlap Stick to Football podcast: “If you look at the injuries and the players that have come in, he's really brought players in – he signed [Raheem] Sterling when everyone wanted a No. 9. He had the time to get a No. 9, he had the time.
“I'm not a coach, I don't know how the discussions are going… everyone talks about the number nine – except when we win, by the way. When we beat Real Madrid, we didn't need a number nine. No, we really need a number nine.”
Arsenal have been repeatedly linked with Newcastle's Alexander Isak (the Magpies' Champions League qualification is likely to complicate matters further), as well as Sporting Lisbon striker Viktor Gyokeres and RB Leipzig's Benjamin Seshko.
However, Henry, a 1998 World Cup winner with France, believes former Manchester City and Atletico Madrid striker Julian Alvarez could be the answer to their problems.
He said: “One of my favourite No. 9s at the moment is Julian Alvarez. We talked about it, pressing, playing alone, low, whatever. Did you see the free kick he scored the other day?
“He can hold the ball on his own, he played in the Olympics, he played in the Copa America. I haven't heard him say, 'I'm tired' or 'I'm not tired.' I hope nothing bad happens to him. He played
Sourse: breakingnews.ie
