Petit claims one Arsenal signing is a ‘panic buy’; warns Arteta he’s made same mistake as Guardiola

Former Arsenal midfielder Emmanuel Petit thinks Raheem Sterling is a “panic buy” from the Gunners as they “just wanted to get someone in”.

Arsenal turned David Raya’s loan deal into a permanent transfer for £27m over the summer, while Riccardo Calafiori and Mikel Merino both followed as new signings from Bologna and Real Sociedad respectively.

Those signings came before Sterling was snapped up on transfer deadline day in a loan deal from Chelsea after the England international had been training away from Enzo Maresca’s first-team squad.

But, despite his obvious talent, Petit reckons Arsenal have made a “panic buy” with the signing of Sterling on deadline day.

Petit told BetVictor : “I think Raheem Sterling was a panic buy from Arsenal. They just wanted to get someone in before the transfer window closed. They were looking at so many different players for months and didn’t get any of them, including a number nine.

“Everyone knows the quality that Sterling can produce and everyone knows what to expect from him, in both a good and bad way on the pitch. He doesn’t behave badly off the pitch and he always tries to give 100%, but sometimes he has so many bad qualities including his consistency.

“ Arsenal needed to sign a winger to bring competition for Leandro Trossard and Gabriel Martinelli, but I honestly think this was just a panic buy. He could be a good addition to the team because he has played under and learned from Pep Guardiola. Mikel Arteta plays exactly the same style, so Sterling knows exactly what Arteta will be expecting from him on the pitch.

“Arteta also knows that Sterling will be wanting revenge after what happened at Chelsea. If I were him, I’d be very upset and I’d be trying my hardest on the pitch to prove them wrong, exactly like Kai Havertz did. It was a pity to see what Chelsea did to both of those players.”

MORE ARSENAL COVERAGE ON F365
👉 Ranking £338.6m worth of new signings on how excited we are for their debut: Man Utd 2) and 6)
👉 Ten Premier League stars yet to get going this season after starring in 2023/2024
👉 Man Utd £150m pair among 11 Premier League stars who could be rescued by Turkey

Kai Havertz will once again take on the central role in attack for Arsenal this season with Gabriel Jesus providing back up in case of injury or suspension.

Petit added: “I have been very happy with Kai Havertz’s performances, but he’s not a natural striker. When Arsenal aren’t playing well they become predictable and we saw that against Brighton. They need a plan B, a typical striker up front who can create more options for the midfielders and attackers around him. They needed something different and they didn’t get it.

“At the moment, Arteta and his staff are at a crossroads. There are many directions in which they could go, but they have to make sure they take the right one. I have full confidence in Arteta and Edu because they work so well together. They will know that not signing a striker in this window was a failure.”

And Petit thinks Arteta is making the same mistake Manchester City and Pep Guardiola made a few seasons ago before they brought in Erling Haaland.

Petit continued: “We saw Pep Guardiola try to play without a striker for a couple of seasons and it failed him in Europe. Now we are seeing the impact of Erling Haaland in the Premier League, and also in the fact that they won the Champions League in his first season.

“Even if he didn’t make a huge scoring impact in the Champions League, his presence on the pitch changed how their opponents behaved and played. It changed a lot of things including the position of the opponents’ defenders. He helped Manchester City to take the next step and win the Champions League.”