Arsenal failed to make a “10 out of 10” attacking signing during the transfer window, according to Jamie Carragher.
The reigning Premier League champions explored ambitious moves for Real Madrid forward Vinicius Junior and Atletico Madrid striker Julian Alvarez but were unable to complete either deal.
Christos Tzolis was Arsenal’s only attacking addition, joining from Club Brugge for £34m.
The Gunners also saw Leandro Trossard leave for Besiktas, Gabriel Jesus join Barcelona and Ethan Nwaneri move to Borussia Dortmund. Gabriel Martinelli is also in talks over a move to Al Hilal, whose transfer window remains open.
Carragher believes Arsenal already have plenty of good attacking options but were missing a player capable of taking their attack to another level.
“They have got really good strikers. I like Kai Havertz and I think Mikel Arteta likes him, as well,” Carragher said on Sky Sports.
“Viktor Gyokeres has been what most people felt he would be when he came – not quite elite but he can still score goals in certain games. They can still use him to do that job this season.
“They needed someone to be a gamechanger. They tried to get Vinicius Junior, they tried to get Alvarez – that’s the calibre of players.”
Arsenal have built one of the strongest squads in the Premier League, meaning Carragher believes only a world-class addition would significantly improve Arteta’s team.
“It’s very hard to improve Arsenal now because they are such a good team, such a strong squad,” he added.
“So you’re talking about a world-class player as the only one that can improve them. They’ve tried to get them and haven’t been able to get these deals over the line.
“There’s no point bringing somebody of the level that they’ve already got. They’ve got five or six players in attack which I would call ‘seven or eight out of 10 players’.
“They wanted a ‘nine or 10 out of 10 player’ but couldn’t get it across the line.”
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