Paul Merson has urged Arsenal to ‘go out’ and sign two players ‘immediately’ while revealing his concern over £34m signing Fabio Vieira.
The Gunners are ready to back Mikel Arteta with more cash in January, with the Spaniard taking Arsenal five points clear at the top of the Premier League this season.
While the north London outfit have been brilliant this year – winning 14 of their 17 league games – there is an acceptance that January reinforcements are needed to continue to hold off defending champions Manchester City.
Merson wants two new signings to arrive at the Emirates Stadium – one being Ukraine international Mykhaylo Mudryk – and also says it was ‘worrying’ that Arteta did not turn to Vieira during the goalless draw with Newcastle United.
Arsenal were frustrated by Eddie Howe’s Newcastle on Tuesday night but Arteta only opted to use one of his substitutes, leaving former Porto star Vieira on the bench.
‘I think Arsenal need two signings this January, they’ve got to go out and buy immediately,’ Merson told the Daily Star.
‘I watched them against Newcastle and they ran out of ideas. Don’t get me wrong, Newcastle defended really well and it was hard to break down but you’ve got to be able to change it up.
‘There were no fresh legs. They paid £34million for Fabio Vieira but still didn’t put him on. For me, that was the worrying thing.
‘I wouldn’t just say they needed fresh legs, I’d say fresh brains as well. There was no guile or differentiation.
‘Even if they just swapped the wingers over for 10 minutes, Mikel Arteta seemed to be so engrossed in the game on the touchline that it quickly passed Arsenal by.
‘Arsenal need to set Shakhtar Donetsk a deadline with Mykhaylo Mudryk. They’ve offered £62m and it should now be “take it or leave it” otherwise the January transfer window will soon be over.’
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