Alan Shearer has rated Arsenal's chances of winning the UEFA Champions League this season.
Alan Shearer
Alan Shearer reckons Arsenal should have signed Julian Alvarez in the summer transfer window.(Image: Betfair)
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Alan Shearer reckons Julian Alvarez would have been the final piece of the puzzle for Arsenal in Mikel Arteta's quest for UEFA Champions League glory.
The Gunners fell at the final hurdle last season, losing to Paris Saint-Germain on penalties at the Puskas Arena in Budapest, Hungary. On Wednesday night, Arsenal will start laying the foundations of another title bid when they face Napoli at the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium in the first of eight 'league phase' games.
Before the Gunners begin plotting their route to the final at the Metropolitano in Madrid, they need to first qualify for the knockout stages. Although Arsenal have been tipped as one of the favourites to go the distance, Shearer has questioned whether Arteta has enough firepower to finally get his hands on a piece of European silverware.
Speaking to Betfair, the former Newcastle United and Blackburn Rovers striker discussed how the failure to sign a 'top-class forward' could cost the Gunners in the Champions League. He said: "I don’t think Arsenal’s lack of business in the transfer window to secure a left winger will affect them in the Premier League.
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"They've recruited really well. They clearly wanted to bring one more top-class forward. I still think [Viktor] Gyokeres is a good player, but I don't think he's top-class.
"Having said that, he did enough to help them win the league last season. But I think a signing like Julian Alvarez would have pushed them that bit further towards the Champions League as well. I mean, it's pretty much a given.
"They would have won the league and [had] a great chance in the Champions League if they had signed Alvarez. But I'm not feeling too sorry for them with the squad they've got because they still recruited really, really well."
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football.london understands that Arsenal were interested in signing Alvarez from Atletico Madrid, whose contract at the Metropolitano expires in June 2030.
Arteta and Andrea Berta were both believed to be big admirers of the Argentina international, and they would have loved to secure his signature.
Alvarez had informed Los Colchoneros' higher-ups of his desire to leave, so the Gunners kept tabs on his situation. But the 26-year-old striker preferred a move to Barcelona, and Atletico priced him at €200m (£171m) anyway, which was far more than anything Arsenal were willing to spend.
So, despite missing out on Vinicius Jr and then Alvarez, Berta chose not to sign another forward of any kind, leaving Arteta a little short on firepower.
The Arsenal boss has seemingly made his feelings clear with his choice of starting lineups, starting Kai Havertz while reducing Gyokeres to just minutes here and there off the bench...