Arsenal have been told they must sign Newcastle United star Bruno Guimaraes and another top player in order to give themselves the ‘best possible chance’ of winning the Champions League.
Arsenal have enjoyed a great season, having won 25 of their 35 Premier League games so far to put themselves right in the mix for the title. The Gunners have a one-point advantage over second-placed Manchester City, though Pep Guardiola’s men do have a game in hand.
While Arsenal were knocked out of both the FA Cup and League Cup early on, they did go far in the Champions League.
Arteta’s side finished top of Group B before overcoming Porto to reach the quarter-finals. However, that is where Arsenal’s European journey came to an end as they were beaten 3-2 on aggregate by Bayern Munich.
While Arteta remains intent on winning the Prem title this campaign, he will also be looking at how Arsenal can make the first-team squad better ahead of a push for several trophies next season.
Three positions Arsenal could strengthen are left-back, central midfield and centre-forward. Miguel Gutierrez, Guimaraes and Alexander Isak are three players who might arrive at the North London club.
On Thursday, TEAMtalk revealed that Arsenal are growing in confidence that they can sign Guimaraes.
During an appearance on talkSPORT, self-confessed Arsenal fan Darren Bent urged the Gunners to break the bank with a stunning double move for Guimaraes and Isak.
Arsenal latest: Huge double swoop predicted
“You know what, I’d blow the whole transfer budget on them two. Got £150m to spend…” he said.
When asked about how Arsenal’s midfield would look with the Brazilian added to the mix, Bent added: “Bruno, [Declan] Rice, [Martin] Odegaard.”
Fellow pundit Andy Goldstein said: “If you got those two, that’s a squad-and-a-half.
“Do you know what, I would go as far as to say if you get them two, keep everyone else and sort your left-back situation out, you’ll have I think your best possible chance of winning the Champions League the following season.”
Arsenal have never won the Champions League, coming closest in 2006 when they lost 2-1 in the final to Barcelona.
Adding Guimaraes and Isak to an already brilliant Arsenal squad would certainly give them a good chance at disrupting the likes of Real Madrid, Bayern and City by lifting the UCL crown.
Although, it must be noted that signing both Guimaraes and Isak in one transfer window would be extremely tough.
While Newcastle are open to one big sale this summer, they would not want to lose two of their most crucial stars at the same time.
As things stand, Newcastle are more likely to sell Guimaraes than Isak. While the all-action midfielder is excellent in his own right, Isak has shown he has the potential to become a truly world-class striker by hitting 19 goals in 26 Premier League matches this campaign.
