Mikel Arteta makes ‘hard’ prediction after Ray Parlour highlights Arsenal goalscoring problem

Mikel Arteta has hinted at his side’s need for a goalscoring striker amid claims from former Gunner Ray Parlour.

The Gunners put together an impressive term of last before ultimately falling short to serial winners Manchester City. Many felt the drop-off was due to Arsenal not having an out-and-out goalscorer, with last summer’s signing Gabriel Jesus scoring 11 Premier League goals, while City were able to fall back on the more than 30 goals scored by Erling Haaland.

Jesus has been defended for his overall contribution to the system at the Emirates Stadium, while Arsenal have also moved to sign another forward who is not known for his goalscoring in Kai Havertz this summer.

That leaves the questions over a lack of goal-scoring striker unanswered, although Arteta did try to answer that question after his side’s pre-season clash with Barcelona, saying: “I don’t know. We need to score as many goals as possible and if we have someone who scores 25, 30, 40 goals great.

“Gabi today didn’t score but it’s the best Gabi I have seen for months. Transmitting that energy, that belief. He was creating a lot of chaos, a lot of good moments and making everyone better.

“I’m really pleased with that and the contribution of Kai. He has that quality and that’s why he’s playing that position with Leo (Trossard). We have a lot of options up front and they are going to have to compete between them to give me a hard time.”

The comments come after former Arsenal star and talkSPORT pundit Parlour explained why his old club need someone who can consistently put the ball in the back of the net.

“You need an out and out goalscorer, if you’re Arsenal,” said Parlour recently. “They’ve got so much good backup play behind the striker, but they need someone to put the ball in the net. For me, I don’t think that’s the right signing. But obviously Edu and Mikel Arteta will be talking behind the scenes and thinking he can play here or there.”

“There might be a plan for him. Any player coming into any club, you’ve got to give them a chance. But for me, it’s a shame, I’d have gone for Ivan Toney but he’s obviously got that ban and whether they want to take a chance with that…but he would have been the obvious choice for me.”