Arsenal warned that two current first-team stars ‘risk costing them Premier League title next season’
ARSENAL have been warned that Kai Havertz and Gabriel Jesus could risk costing them the Premier League title this season.
The Gunners have come close to ending their title drought over the past two seasons finishing five points behind Manchester City in 2022-23 and just two points adrift Pep Guardiola’s side last term.
Mikel Arteta hopes to finally bring the trophy back to North London after what would be a 21-year drought.
But former West Ham, Newcastle and Portsmouth goalkeeper Shaka Hislop has warned the wait might continue unless Arsenal find a new striker.
He told ESPN: “It really comes down to Arsenal’s attacking options. While Havertz popped up at times, popped up at key moments in key games with goals, I am just not sold on Havertz as a striker to lead a team to win the Premier League.
“I feel the same about Gabriel Jesus, who I thought started wonderfully well when he first joined Arsenal. But because of injuries, it waned.
“There is still that department to be addressed. Mikel Arteta is right, margins are really thin, especially when you consider just how good Manchester City continue to be.
“There’s still work to be done at Arsenal because they’ve just come up short despite how good they are.”
Arsenal are missing a No9 like Erling Haaland who has scored 63 goals in 66 games across his last two seasons at Man City.
But to their credit, the Gunners did smash 91 goals last term after a red-hot flurry late in the season.
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Bukayo Saka, Havertz and Leandro Trossard hit double digits while Jesus struggled with just four goals in 27 appearances.
Arteta’s side were keen to sign Slovenian striker Benjamin Sesko, who scored 14 goals in 31 games last season.
However the 21-year-old opted to remain at RB Leipzig after extending his contract.
Arsenal are now said to be interested in Sporting Lisbon striker Viktor Gyokeres – who scored 43 goals in all competitions last season.
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