Arteta needs to keep a big-money signing, Arsenal’s new Pepe, on the bench

Arsenal have found themselves in a precarious situation once again at the end of the season, but much of the recent criticism has been exaggerated.

The Gunners are at the top of the Premier League, six points behind Manchester City (who have a game in hand). Mikel Arteta’s side have also reached the Champions League semi-finals for the second year in a row, where they will be joined by Atletico Madrid and Diego Simeone.

Bukayo Saka has not performed to the standards we have become accustomed to. The 23-year-old is sure to return to world-class standards in the future, but this has been a tough season for England wingers and the same goes for Gabriel Martinelli.

Wide forwards have probably been overused throughout Arteta’s tenure, but he was looking to change things. Unfortunately, the changes made this season leave something to be desired.

Why Arsenal are struggling offensively

Arsenal’s goals have been dwindling in recent weeks, with losses to Bournemouth, Southampton and Manchester City, and a 1-0 aggregate win over Sporting Lisbon in the Champions League.

There are areas for improvement, but Arteta and technical director Andrea Berta are ready to take on the summer transfer window with venom – and hopefully as reigning Premier League champions.

Indeed, Arsenal’s regression in open-play attacks is not unusual in England’s top flight. On the contrary, they have resisted the move to more direct landscapes better than their competitors, and have topped out time and time again following the work of specialists such as Saka and Declan Rice.

There are other factors as well. Saka’s burnout is clear, and questions have been raised over the contract and subsequent form of Noni Madueke, who has not performed to live up to his £52m price tag from Chelsea recently.

Madueke, 23, is a talented winger, fast, ferocious and direct, but he is yet to prove he is up to the standards needed to be part of the starting eleven to challenge for the title.

But he’s not the only one, Arsenal’s other big-money forward is fast becoming a new version of Nicolas Pepe.

Arsenal star becomes the new Nicolas Pepe

Pepe arrived at Arsenal with high expectations, but the reality was that his good moments were outweighed by crushing disappointments, and he was left adrift in too many games.

Victor Gokeres may now be emerging as a new version of the dynamic Ivorian winger who, even with a decent goal-scoring rate, would be a little out of place at the forefront of Arteta’s Arsenal system.

Arsenal signed Gokeres from Sporting CP last summer, acquiring the versatile Lisbon-based striker for around £64 million. He played 102 games for Portugal and scored 97 goals, earning him the title of “the hottest striker in the world” by talkSPORT host Flex.

Despite approaching 20 goals, it’s probably fair to say he hasn’t established himself as a world-class member of Arteta’s side.

The problem is that Pepe has closed the door on his career at the Emirates having enjoyed a huge profit. He scored 27 goals and provided 21 assists in 112 games across all competitions for Arsenal.

However, when he joined the LOSC trade to Lille, he never matched his huge form in France, and of course was overshadowed by the huge £72m price tag that put him on the back foot from the start.

Is Gyokeres also stepping on the same ground? In the end, the Swedish striker did a pretty good job in front of goal, all things considered. He has scored 18 goals in all competitions and 12 goals in 30 Premier League appearances.

This statistic will continue to show a huge advantage as the 27-year-old has missed just 10 big chances in the top flight. However, he also averaged just 5.5 passes per game, completed just 18% of his dribbles and won just 32% of his aerial duels.

Arsenal have a shocking game ahead of them this weekend when they take on Manchester City at the Etihad. If Pep Guardiola’s side win, they will move within three points of the top teams, but at that point the match is decided.

Gokeres would definitely be at risk of being isolated, so perhaps a more dynamic forward like Gabriel Jesus or Kai Havertz might be a wise option.

Madukeres may have cheated at times in an Arsenal shirt, but he only scored twice in the Premier League, but he was added as an assistant to Saka on the right wing, while Goqueres was brought in with the expectation of leading the line for many years.

Gokeres knows how to score goals, but is he really Arsenal’s long-term answer at number nine? Probably not. As happened with Pepe a few years ago, sooner or later Arteta will make a move on a big-money signing.