Gary Neville has questioned why Arsenal left it until transfer deadline day to try to bolster their midfield as he believes they are light in that area of the squad.
The Gunners were ultimately unsuccessful in their attempts to sign a midfielder in the final hours of the window as they had three bids rejected for Aston Villa’s Douglas Luiz, the last being £25million plus add-ons.
22-year-old Fabio Vieira was signed from Porto at the start of the summer but injury prevented him from making his debut before coming on as a substitute in Arsenal’s 3-1 defeat to Manchester United on Sunday.
Appearing on The Overlap Fan Debate Xtra, Neville said: ‘We asked Mikel Arteta on the first game of the season, we said to him “are you going to do any more business?”.
‘He said he did, in midfield. Why did they wait until transfer deadline day to bid for Luiz? Why did they wait that three, four weeks?
‘I thought midfield yesterday [against Manchester United] was the one area where United looked like they had more, at times, passing through the lines.
‘I know that Arsenal did really well in midfield, but when there was a moment to open up the game – I know Odegaard can do that – I felt they did lack a midfield player.’
However, his fellow pundit Jamie Carragher praised Arsenal’s recent transfer business, describing it as ‘brave’ to sign certain players who other clubs might have avoided.
‘I really like what’s happened for the last two summers at Arsenal,’ Carragher said. There’s been a plan in terms of going for younger players. I think you made the mistake of getting Willian, Cedric, David Luiz.
‘But I actually think the players that you’ve brought in have been really brave. No one else really would have taken them. The position that Arsenal found themselves in, they couldn’t go and get Champions League players. So they’re almost having to build this young team.
‘I can’t look at many of the transfers over the last couple of years and think “oh that’s been a disaster”. Everyone looks a good player. Odegaard coming in, Ben White was a lot of money, Saliba is back in, Zinchenko, Jesus. Martinelli for really pittance.’
None of Arsenal’s six signings last summer were over the age of 23, while only Gabriel Jesus and Oleksandr Zinchenko (both still only 25) have been older than that this year.
It means that Mikel Arteta’s squad is the youngest in the Premier League, but that has not hindered them so far this season as they currently sit top of the table with 15 points from a possible 18.