Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher has suggested that Arsenal’s “next two or three signings” have to be what Alisson and Virgil Van Dijk were for Liverpool.
The Gunners are in a similar position to that occupied by Liverpool in the early years of Jurgen Klopp’s reign, and the pundit has suggested that Mikel Arteta’s men need to make similarly impressive additions to their squad during what promises to be a busy summer.
Arsenal are in a brilliant position in the Premier League at present, sitting in fourth with three points more than local rivals Tottenham Hotspur and four ahead of Manchester United, with both having played a game more.
Finishing in the top four would be a huge boost for all three clubs, who will be looking to close the gap to the top three with effective signings during the summer window. Arsenal will be in the market for a striker come June, with Alexandre Lacazette’s contract expiring with the London club at the end of the season.
Arsenal have been linked to the likes of Benfica’s Darwin Nunez in recent weeks but there are a number of targets being considered, reports the Express.
Speaking about Arsenal’s situation and their future signings, Jamie Carragher told Gary Neville’s The Overlap Live Fan Debate:
“Arsenal need to get fourth, and when you’re likening it to what Klopp did at Liverpool, Arsenal are at the stage where they haven’t got a [Cristiano] Ronaldo. They haven’t got a [Harry] Kane,
“The next two or three signings for Arsenal have to be Alisson, have to be [Virgil] Van Dijk, what they were for Liverpool. Where they take you from fighting for the top four, getting in the top four, to making that jump where you’re competing with City, Liverpool, United, Chelsea.
“That’s Arsenal’s next thing. They need a really top centre-forward who can really take them up a level.”
Following the big-money sale of Philippe Coutinho to Barcelona in January 2018, Liverpool reinvested that cash into the signings of Alisson Becker and Virgil Van Dijk. The Reds finished fourth the year before signing the Dutchman and have been to two Champions League finals, winning the 2019 version, and secured an elusive Premier League title in 2020 for the first time in 30 years.
Just like Carragher did, many have pinpointed the two signings as the ones that changed the course of Liverpool’s history forever and it is what Arsenal will be trying to do in the summer.
Arsenal’s players have shared the team’s goals this season in all competitions, with Bukayo Saka and Emile Smith Rowe leading the way with ten. The Gunners recognised centre-forward, Lacazette only has seven for the season and if you compare that to the Premier Leagues’ top scorer Mohamed Salah, the Frenchman is a total of 21 goals behind the Liverpool man.
Arsenal will certainly be hoping the striker they sign in the summer can reach close to Salah’s level of goalscoring, and if that player can, the signing could push the Gunners on just like Alisson and Van Dijk did for Liverpool.