Wayne Rooney has sent a clear message to Arsenal and Manchester United following the 1-1 draw at Old Trafford on Sunday.
The Gunners now trail Liverpool by a whopping 15 points in the title race, while United hover in the bottom half of the Premier League table. With both teams struggling to find the back of the net consistently, rumours are brewing that they’ll be hunting for a new striker come the summer transfer window.
Rooney highlighted the shared issue facing the teams regarding their frontline, reflecting on how Liverpool have maintained a strong goal tally despite Darwin Nunez's sporadic contributions this term. Speaking on BBC's Match of the Day 2, Rooney said: "I always feel the teams with the best number nines have the best chance of winning things.
"Liverpool are probably an exception to that, with the way they rotate the player they use through the middle, rather than having a regular number nine that the team is built around. The number nine is still so important for them, though. Mohamed Salah, cutting in from wide areas, is their main goalscorer but, whether it is Luis Diaz, Diogo Jota or Darwin Nunez in the centre, they all chip in with a good amount of goals."
Arsenal's decision not to sign a striker in the January window has sparked debate among fans and pundits, especially after the blow of losing Gabriel Jesus for the rest of the season due to an injury, reports the Mirror. Mikel Merino once again stepped up as an emergency number nine and Rooney added: "A proper number nine - a forward who has played there his whole life - brings something different to any team.
"I am talking about that natural goalscoring instinct, which a player who is trying to learn the position probably doesn't have. A midfielder playing forward like Merino can get hold of the ball and bring others into play, but what a goalscorer brings is that selfishness of wanting to be in the penalty area to finish chances.
"As we saw on Sunday, Rice was trying to help Arsenal to fill that position, as the player who was always making forward runs and arriving in the box. He did really well in that advanced role, but he cannot always be there."
Rooney did defend Rasmus Hojlund, though, who had several opportunities after coming on for Joshua Zirkzee. He said of the Dane: "I've got faith in him. He's a good player who works hard, which is really important. He needs that bit of luck as well, but once he gets a break then more goals will follow. As a striker for Manchester United, when you are not scoring goals there is a lot of pressure and a lot of people questioning if you can do it for United."
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Arsenal Manager Mikel Arteta, Bukayo Saka, Martin Odegaard and Gabriel Jesus with the Arsenal Therapy Dog Win during the Arsenal Men's team group shoot at London Colney on September 18, 2023
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