Former Arsenal striker Alan Smith believes Arsenal’s hopes of qualifying for next season’s Champions League have taken a severe hit after a frustrating January transfer window.
Despite letting a number of players - including ex-captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang - leave the club, Mikel Arteta was not able to bring anybody in to reinforce his young side.
The likes of Dusan Vlahovic, Bruno Guimaraes and Arthur Melo were all considered but transfer deadline day passed with little incident on the incoming front.
Currently sitting two points off of Manchester United in fourth, Arsenal face a battle to qualify for Europe’s elite competition and have seen the goals dry up of late, failing to score in their last four games.
Speaking to Sky Sports, pundit Smith talked of the club’s “gamble”.
“It is a gamble,” he said.
“Every time the team cannot score a goal, that will be thrown in his face and I am sure he is fully aware of that and prepared for it. But he may just have the freedom now to try one or two things like playing Gabriel Martinelli down the middle at times.
“I thought Arteta might try and get Aubameyang back on side given the vast outlay Arsenal had made on him, but only the manager and the player would know what the chances of that actually were.
“He obviously decided he did not want to do that, and he wanted to make a clean cut. Managers are paid big money to make big decisions, and this is a big decision. There is no doubt about that.”
