Mikel Arteta has a monumental summer ahead of him. The Spaniard will almost certainly be reflecting on the season that has just passed, while turning his attention to the summer transfer window to find ways to bolster his Arsenal squad.
The Gunners managed to rebuild their foundations after a huge overhaul last year, earning the support of the fans once again as a collective. However, despite the bright moments on the whole, the young squad let their advantage in the race for the Champions League slip, having to settle for the Europa League.
There were several issues across the season that stunted their chase for the top four, such as the lack of squad depth in the closing stages as injuries and suspensions stacked up. However, one constant problem has been the lack of a clinical goal scorer.
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With Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s poor early season form, followed by a move away to Barcelona, Alexandre Lacazette and Eddie Nketiah were left to pick up the mantle of centre-forward. The Frenchman had struggled in front of goal all season, but he provided a crucial role in dropping deeper to link play.
As for Nketiah, the youngster was given very few minutes for the majority of the campaign, but towards the end he was picking up starts and goals in the Premier League. However, with just the nine league goals between the pair, it makes for difficult reading.
Add to that the overall Arsenal attacking stats and it shows where the priority must be this summer. As per Sky Sports, the Gunners ranked fourth for xG (Expected Goals) with 69 across the campaign, however they only managed to score 61, the sixth best in the league.
That suggests that chances aren’t being taken, with those eight goals potentially being the difference between fourth and fifth. This is only exemplified by the shot conversion rate, with Arsenal in 12th for their conversion at 14.6 percent, or roughly one goal scored every ten shots they take.
It underlines just how crucial it is that the right striker is chosen by Arteta this summer, with reports suggesting that the Gunners could have upwards of £150million to spend on their squad.
