While speaking to Stadium Astro, Arsenal legend Tony Adams has called the club’s recent recruitment into question.
Adams earned his stripes during his time with the Gunners, perhaps more than any player ever has for them before. Now long retired and very much in the punditry game, the former centre-back is well within his rights to share his view on current club matters.
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He has done so while speaking on the Stadium Astro YouTube channel, and while his comments will make for fond listening for manager Mikel Arteta and summer signing Thomas Partey, Arsenal’s recruitment team won’t enjoy them as much:
“Bringing Partey in is amazing recruitment. Arteta is doing a fantastic job but I question recruitment. Willian, [Nicolas] Pepe, do we need them? Do we add in the right areas? Do we need a right-back?”
“I think Gabriel has been another inclusion that has been brilliant, but I question [Emi] Martinez – the goalkeeper – that we let go. Recruitment is so important.”
He has a point, too.
Partey is a superb player and a great addition, but Arsenal have bagged themselves a gem within a bucket-load of mud. The two he name-drops, Willian and Nicolas Pepe, are yet to show anything to suggest that they’re up to standard.
Both players need to up their game if Arsenal are going to compete at the top again, but more crucially, the club need to make more Partey-esque signings to bridge the gap between their competitors and themselves.