Manchester United legend and pundit Gary Neville has insisted that he has 'no sympathy' towards the injury crisis on Mikel Arteta's hands at Arsenal.
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Arsenal suffer injury crisis in attackNeville has no sympathy for GunnersRejected chances to sign players in winter windowFollow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱WHAT HAPPENED?
Arsenal's campaign has been riddled with a number of injuries, with the Gunners suffering from key absences in defence in the first half of the season and now facing a troubling time in attack with stars like Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli struggling for fitness, while Gabriel Jesus and Kai Havertz have been ruled out for the season.
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Arsenal promised a lot at the start of 2024-25, however, their fitness issues have now started hampering their hopes for silverware. Nonetheless, Red Devils legend Neville has now insisted that Arsenal deserve 'no sympathy' over their injury crisis as he tore down the Gunners' transfer strategy. The former full-back has claimed that Arsenal were aware of the potential of issues with squad depth but chose not to make a winter signing and hence deserve no commiserations.
WHAT NEVILLE SAID
Speaking on the , the United legend said: “They’re going to have to come up with something. Look, I said before the game [between Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United], I have got very little sympathy for Arsenal, they knew at the start of the season that they were short at centre-forward.
"They knew that they might be… you know, if [Kai] Havertz got injured and they knew were in a position where they didn’t have the quality up top so they’ve known about it. They’ve also had two title races so they know what it’s like. So, this is not like an inexperienced team anymore, this is not an inexperienced manager and it’s not an inexperienced situation for them to be in.
"So, I always say, ultimately, did you know that this could have happened before the start of the season? Yeah, could it have been foreseen? Yes, it could, we knew that Arsenal lack goals up top and a top centre-forward.
"I’m not saying they should go and desperately buy one but they knew in the January transfer window that there was an issue there, again, they couldn’t get any business done."
AFPWHAT NEXT FOR ARSENAL?
Arteta only has Raheem Sterling, Leandro Trossard and 17-year-old Ethan Nwaneri as options up front for Arsenal's next clash against West Ham on Saturday, and could have to bank on some other players like Mikel Merino, who played as an auxiliary striker in the last game and scored twice, to slot into the attack.
