Arsenal hit their peak this season and will struggle to keep up with Manchester City next season because they can’t sign the same calibre of player, according to Tony Adams.
The Gunners finished the Premier League season in second, five points behind City, who claimed their fifth title from the past six campaigns. Mikel Arteta’s side had topped the table for the majority of the season but ended up surrendering an eight-point lead in the run-in.
The focus has now shifted to how the Gunners can strengthen their squad over the summer and prepare themselves to go again. Arsenal are ready to go all out to sign West Ham star Declan Rice, but the club’s former captain Adams believes they have to be realistic and accept that even matching this season’s achievement may be beyond them.
“I do fear that this could be as good as it gets for them,” he wrote for The Sun. “I hate to sound like a prophet of doom, but I do believe that a lot of this team has already peaked.
"It was possibly the best season that many of them will ever have. I don’t think they’ll get to that level again.
“They’re definitely not going to challenge Manchester City next season and without serious recruitment this summer it will be a struggle for them to finish runners-up again.
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“City’s B team is better than any other Premier League side and we know that Newcastle, Manchester United, Liverpool and Chelsea will all be much stronger next time out.”
Arsenal suffered injuries to key players like Gabriel Jesus and William Saliba this season and struggled to replace them. Arteta and sporting director Edu are clear that investment is needed to improve the squad and a budget of £180million has reportedly been made available.
Rice is Arteta’s number one target, but West Ham are expected to hold out for around £100m for their star player. Adams believes that price tag is too dear and the Gunners would be better off spreading their cash around.
He thinks they need a centre-back, a striker, a midfielder and a winger but questions how they can compete with their rivals in the transfer market. Arsenal do have Champions League football to attract top-tier players, but their spending power is still some way off City.
Despite his somewhat gloomy outlook, Adams has previously hit back at suggestions Arsenal bottled the title. “A lot of credit’s got to be given to the Arsenal, they’ve had a fantastic season where just at the end of the day they’ve run out of resources,” he said on Sky Sports after the 1-0 defeat by Nottingham Forest sent the trophy to City.
“We’ve got a couple people out of form and our back-up players – to win titles you need great back-up people, good assistance.”
