Mikael Silvestre believes Arsenal are on the right track under Mikel Arteta and the signing of Gabriel Jesus gives the Spaniard options ahead of next season.
Jesus made the move to the Emirates Stadium in a £45million deal from Manchester City, later being followed by Oleksandr Zinchenko. The Gunners have signed a total of five new players so far in the summer transfer window, with more incomings expected before the transfer deadline.
Arsenal enjoyed a successful pre-season tour of America, beating Premier League rivals Everton and Chelsea, and continue to prepare for the new season with a behind closed doors friendly against Brentford before facing Sevilla at the weekend. The Gunners will face Patrick Vieira's Crystal Palace side on the opening day of the 2022/23 campaign, whilst technical director Edu Gaspar's work off the pitch continues as the club look to sell on a number of fringe players, as well as secure deals for one or two more players.
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Silvestre has discussed his former side's transfer business compared to north London rivals Tottenham, Jesus' arrival at Arsenal and Arteta's performance as manager at the Emirates Stadium. Silvestre, speaking on behalf of 888sport, said: “There have been new signings and we will see about the defence.
"Arsenal going forward, I like their movement and combinations, the flair they’ve been showing. The question is whether they can do that in the Premier League and show it consistently because that was lacking last season."
Arsenal just missed out on Champions League football at the end of last season, being pipped on the final day by rivals Spurs, but Silvestre believes more experience as a group will aid Arteta's side moving forward. "It’s still a young group of players with not much experience in the Premier League in terms of games, and it’s still a young manager too. But they look to be on the right track," the former France international added before discussing Jesus' arrival.
"Jesus will be the number nine though many teams now don’t play with what you might call a proper old-fashioned number nine. That’s not an issue because the guy is so mobile and we saw against Chelsea he likes to go out to the right. He has the capacity to wide to the left or right like he did at City and that’s very good for Mikel because it gives him options.”
The Brazilian forward was the fourth new signing made by the club after the arrivals of Matt Turner, Marquinhos and Fabio Vieira. Arsenal's rivals have been busy in the transfer window as well, with Antonio Conte's side having signed six players this summer.
“Tottenham have certainly signed quality players but I don’t think its fair to compare Arsenal and Spurs in terms of signings because we can only speculate until the season ends," Silvestre continued. "Both teams have been proactive quite early and both have achieved what they wanted, bringing in quality and cover. It’s just going to see a big, intense North London Derby.”
The 44-year-old discussed whether a comparison can be made between two of his former sides, Arsenal and Manchester United. Silvestre spent nine years at Old Trafford before moving to Arsenal in 2008 where he spent two years in north London before moving to Germany.
“It’s difficult because I don’t know what United are made of at the moment. They have Eriksen to come in but they still need someone in midfield. It’s a key position for them.
"So far, we only have pre-season to judge them on. Arsenal looked good against Chelsea but that wasn’t Chelsea on a good day," Silvestre added.
Arsenal will be hoping the signings they have made can make the difference in breaking into the top four for the upcoming season as they battle with Spurs and United whilst trying to close the gap to the likes of Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester City. Gunners fans can expect more activity in the transfer window before the deadline, with the season set to start in just 10 days time.
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