Opinion: Sensational Jamie Carragher claim about Arsenal striker bid shows scale of Andrea Berta's task

Jamie Carragher has made a bold claim about Arsenal’s bid to sign a striker in the January transfer window that, if true, shows how much Andrea Berta has on his plate as he begins his new job.

The Gunners went into the January transfer window still in the Premier League title race but clearly needing a striker after losing Gabriel Jesus for the season during the month of January. Arsenal tried to get a striker, notably making an offer for Aston Villa’s that was reportedly worth £60million, but they ultimately decided not to sign a new frontman after getting nowhere with that particular deal.

Arteta was made to pay just days after the window when his only remaining striker was ruled out for much of the season just days after the window when Kai Havertz picked up a hamstring issue that required surgery. The decision not to sign a striker curtailed Arsenal’s Premier League title bid, and their hopes for the season now rest on the Champions League.

But according to Jamie Carragher, speaking on The Overlap, the Watkins situation played out very differently from what was perceived, with Villa reportedly offering the striker to Arsenal. He claimed: “When we talk about Arsenal going for him, someone told me that Villa offered him to Arsenal, as well. I know that. Villa offered Watkins. Before Duran went, they had an offer, and I don't think it was Arsenal phoning Villa saying 'we want to sign him'.”

When Gary Neville asked why Arsenal didn’t sign Watkins, Carragher explained: “They didn't offer enough money, they offered whatever it was £50-£60million. But the information I had, and what I'm saying is that he might know that. If I know that, I'm sure his agent knows that. They need to get some money back. and really when you think about it, in an ideal world, you probably would sell Watkins and keep Duran because he's just the younger player, he's only 21, but obviously they did the deal.”

Interestingly, Duran ended up joining Al-Nassr for £65.8million, which suggests Arsenal were only around £5.8million away from signing Watkins, with Villa surely preferring to sell Watkins for the same fee rather than Duran, as Carragher detailed. These claims come after Watkins took a shot at manager Unai Emery for leaving him on the bench for much of the Champions League quarter-final legs with PSG, preferring loan player Marcus Rashford.

Andrea Berta has his work cut out

Andrea Berta has taken over From Edu as Arsenal’s sporting chief, and it’s worth noting that Edu was not on active duty in January. Edu announced his departure in November, and it has since been reported that he left his position because of the growing influence Arteta was having on the club, which will naturally have reduced his say in key issues.

That alone should show the level of the task that faces Berta as he looks to take true control of transfer-related issues at Arsenal, and make no mistake, he should take control, albeit with obvious input from Arteta on player preferences.

Exhibit A for why that should play out is the January disaster. The Champions League run may be masking the issues, but Arteta’s decision to not sign a striker at all costs cost the Gunners a Premier League title charge, and make no mistake, this opportunity to challenge for a title is not a window that remains open very long.

While Mikel Merino and Leandro Trossard have done okay filling in, Arsenal have needed a striker to be able to operate their whole system efficiently, and they would have been better off signing a £15million to £20million striker with a decent goal return to play at the position than going into the rest of the season playing with midfielders upfront, and the cost of that gamble is just as high whether they had made it or not, given what they have missed out on by effectively sacrificing this Premier League season.

On top of that, there is another argument to be made on why Arsenal didn’t get the Watkins deal done, but they will be down to how much they thought the striker is worth, and at such a high price, it’s a fair decision to walk away from the deal if they didn’t feel he was the right option.

Beyond the January debacle, you look at Arsenal’s recruitment over recent years, and on the face of it, it, the recruitment looks pretty strong, but when you dig a little deeper, there is a clear argument to make that it has actually been very poor squad planning. Going into this summer, there is hardly a position that Arsenal can afford not to strengthen.

The Gunners need a new number two goalkeeper, a high-level centre-back, especially if Jakub Kiwior goes, likely another full-back given Takehiro Tomiyasu’s issues, a centre-midfielder who can replace Jorginho, possible another if Thomas Partey goes. On top of all that, they certainly need a striker, and they could very much do with another high-level winger, given the loss of Bukayo Saka and/or Gabriel Martinelli at any given time tends to cripple their system because of the quality, or lack thereof, of the options behind those players.

That lack of depth is owed largely to the fire sale the Gunners had to hold among their fringe players last summer to fund the big-money deals they had done in previous windows, and it has left them facing another very expensive summer, at least if they still harbour title ambitions, which they do.

What Arsenal have effectively done under Arteta and Edu is build a very strong starting XI by sacrificing the quality they have in depth, and it’s not impossible that such a strategy can lead to a title or titles, but as they found out this season, it is a high-risk-high-reward strategy that leaves you at the mercy of injuries, and over a 38-game season plus the Champions League and the two cups, that’s an extremely risky strategy that will more likely than not cost you success.

The Gunners have learned that the hard way, and it’s likely they will have to pivot this summer, likely having to pass up on spending more than £100million to sign Alexander Isak or the likes, instead signing a cheaper striker to allow them the space to add depth. Berta faces the tough challenge of convincing Arteta to walk down that path, and if he doesn’t and Arsenal still chase the biggest names, it will excite fans and it will all be glossed over again...until a few months into next season when injuries once again curtail their still failing title hopes.

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