Charlton manager Lee Bowyer believes Arsenal made a mistake blowing so much of their transfer budget on Nicolas Pepe this summer and should’ve spent it on Harry Maguire instead.
The England defender moved from Leicester City to Manchester United for a fee not dissimilar to what Arsenal paid for Pepe, but the Gunners could really have done with investing more in their struggling defence.
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Instead, they made a late move for David Luiz, which now looks a little desperate as he’s not impressed at the Emirates Stadium since joining from Chelsea.
Pepe has also not really looked worth the investment so far after only scoring three goals, and none from open play so far despite being given plenty of playing time by Unai Emery.
Maguire hasn’t exactly set the world alight at Man Utd, it must be said, but it’s easy to see Bowyer’s argument that Arsenal could’ve done well to try signing a player like him to fix what is surely more of a pressing issue in Emery’s squad at the moment.
“Defensively they are frail, they concede too many goals. Their centre-halves have been a problem for years,” said Bowyer on Sky Sports’ The Debate, as quoted by the Daily Mirror.
“It’s not just been this season, it’s been for a while now, but they would rather spend £75million on a winger than a centre-back.
“Maguire would have been perfect for them, why didn’t they get him?”