Arsenal legend slams Mikel Arteta for worrying trend which builds bad reputation for targets

Arsenal legend Martin Keown has slammed Mikel Arteta for a worrying trend which builds a bad reputation for transfer targets.

Arteta didn’t have any fresh faces added to his squad in the January window, despite losing many players, including one of the club’s key men in Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. That came after a falling out between the pair towards the end of 2021.

Not replacing the striker’s goals concerns the former Gunners defender. And he feels there can’t be another player-manager bust-up in the Arsenal camp after this.

Keown told talkSPORT: “What I wanted was for him [Arteta] to continue to get the best from a player.

“That’s the role of a manager isn’t it, win games and get the best from players?

“Is this decision in the best interest of Arsenal football club? That’s all I’m looking at. There is no replacement that has come in for the striker.

“Arsenal are in a fight for fourth place and have an opportunity to do that.

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“What I don’t want also is the manager to get a reputation for falling out with players. I don’t know if another high profile manager has fallen out with so many players.

“Maybe it was easy to fall out with [Mesut] Ozil, people are saying I’m picking on him, but [Matteo] Guendouzi has since gone on and done quite well, he’s got into the French national team.

Arsenal to go all out for Alexander Isak in the summer

After missing out on a striker in January, Arsenal are set to go all out for Alexander Isak in the summer.

“There have been one or two fall outs, and he may feel like he’s eradicating a culture that was allowed to grow under Arsene Wenger, and I understand that.

“But at the same time all footballers are very different, so what you have to do if find a way to get the best from everybody.

“You can’t keep falling out with people.”

Potential for Arsenal reunion

Meanwhile, Arsenal may have an opening for the sensational return of attacker Serge Gnabry as a familiar issue haunts Bayern Munich.

Gnabry left the north London club in 2016 after a five-year spell on their books. He was seeking regular game time, something which he got in the Bundesliga.

And his performances quickly grabbed Bayern’s attention as they snapped him up just a year later.

Having registered 10 or more league goals in the last six seasons, the German giants want to keep hold of their native star.

But contract disputes and an interview in 2020 could bring about an unexpected reunion…

READ MORE: Arsenal may have opening for sensational signing as familiar issue haunts Euro giants