Arteta & Rice call for Arsenal to make signings | OneFootball

Mikel Arteta and Declan Rice have called on the Arsenal hierarchy to make some signings this summer, with Josh Kroenke promising investment in the team.

Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images

Arsenal secured Champions League football with a win over Newcastle United on Sunday, with the Gunners likely to finish second in the Premier League standings.

Mikel Arteta’s side also reached a Champions League semi-final and a League Cup semi-final this season, but it’s been a difficult campaign at times.

The team are nowhere near as close to top spot as they were in the last couple of Premier League campaigns, and a lengthy injury list has been a significant factor in that. So perhaps it was no surprise to hear Arteta and Declan Rice both calling for summer signings at the weekend.

Photo by Ryan Pierse/Getty Images

“Make sure the ones upstairs do what they have to do,” Arteta said of his summer plans (via Sky Sports and Premier League). “[We need to] be very critical with each of us and the things that we can do better and how we can help this football club to go to another level.

“For sure, recruitment will be part of that, especially because we are really, really short on numbers. We have players that are finishing their contracts. So yeah, we need some help.”

Declan Rice concurred, saying: “Hopefully, we strengthen in the summer, sign more players because we are probably gonna lose a few as well.”

Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images

On that note, Arsenal co-chair Josh Kroenke did promise some investment in the team in his pre-match message to the supporters.

“We plan to invest to get behind winning and doing better next season,” Kroenke wrote. “We’re delighted we have our sporting director, Andrea [Berta], who will play an important role in this.

“He is part of a unified and strong team, supported by the board, who are crystal clear on exactly what we need to do and the way in which we want to do it.”

It’s going to be a big summer for the club, with the team needing to add top quality in a few key positions, but also needing to add depth.

It won’t be easy to do both, particularly with the likes of Kieran Tierney and Jorginho confirmed to be on the way out, and some others likely to follow. But that’s the task Arsenal have this summer.