Mikel Arteta responds to Arsenal fans' calls for a new striker | OneFootball

Arsenal chief Mikel Arteta has hit back at claims from north London supporters – most notably, Piers Morgan – that his side are in need of a ‘proper striker’ and that, without one, their season could be over with the Spanish tactician under the impression that a new striker being snared in the current window is ‘unrealistic’.

It came after the Gunners’ 2-0 loss to Liverpool in the FA Cup third round, one that took their streak of winless games to four, with them also sharply slipping down the Premier League table as they venture further into 2024.

On a goalscoring front, Arsenal have only managed to net 37 times in 20 Premier League outings so far. Admittedly, their return is a respectable one at that, but not having a reliable source of goals beyond Bukayo Saka has become a detriment to their hopes of knocking Manchester City off their perch at the end of the campaign.

Piers Morgan hits out at Arteta after FA Cup loss

Morgan: ‘This awful run is on you’

As the Emirates Stadium faithful came to grips with crashing out of the oldest cup competition in the sport, Piers Morgan took to X (formerly Twitter) to give his six pence on the Spanish tactician's poor run of form.

The 58-year-old, who has been publicly outspoken about Arsenal’s (mis)fortunes in the past, also claimed that the signing of Kai Havertz - which cost Arsenal a grand total of £67 million - was a poor one, while also suggesting that Arsenal’s ‘awful run’ is on the former Everton midfielder.

Earlier on during the game, Morgan claimed that Arsenal would be 5-0 up had they had one of four club legends up front.

Arteta claims that signing a striker is ‘unrealistic’

Arteta has admitted he has to work with the players he has

Even in terms of their top goalscorer Saka, he has only managed to score nine goals in 27 games across all competitions. As such, a centre forward has been courted to be a key transfer target for quite some time now with marksman duo Ivan Toney and Victor Osimhen earmarked as potential names – but it seems as if Arteta has ruled out a potential incoming.

After his side fell to a 2-0 loss at the hands of fellow Premier League challengers Liverpool, Arteta was keen to address any misconceptions over their upcoming business, particularly in the striker department. Claiming that signing a new one in the January market is ‘unrealistic’, the Spaniard, who signed a contract in December 2019, insisted that making improvements to his current crop is high on the agenda, rather than signing fresh faces as replacements. Arteta told beIN SPORTS (via Sky Sports):

When pushed for an answer over potentially targeting a fresh centre forward this month, Arteta reiterated his point and asked for fans to back his decision, all while claiming that the current players ‘deserve’ support thanks to their undying, non-negotiable attitude.

As Arteta and his entourage look to put their FA Cup dumping behind them, the Gunners welcome fellow capital club Crystal Palace on Saturday 20th January before travelling to the City Ground to face Nottingham Forest in the league on Tuesday 30th January. Whether the boss will go back on his word and sign a new goal-hungry frontman before the window shuts at the end of the month remains unknown, but it’s fair to say that goals have got to come if they are to end their silverware hiatus any time soon.