Speaking exclusively to Prime Casino, Arsenal icon Emmanuel Petit has urged Arsenal to go all out in trying to sign Spain forward Nico Williams and admitted that Mikel Arteta would be the perfect replacement for Pep Guardiola at Manchester City.
The France legend has also dismissed any comparisons between Erling Haaland and Thierry Henry and Alan Shearer and told Liverpool that they should sign Bayern Munich star Joshua Kimmich.
Petit has also hailed Wrexham’s owners as being in a completely different world to Chelsea’s owners before stating that they may decide to sell the club if they ever reach the Premier League.
Q: Do Arsenal need to sign a striker in January if they are to win the title?
EP: “If Arsenal are to beat Man City to the title they’ll need to sign a striker in January. We saw against Tottenham that they were missing creativity without Martin Odegaard and at times they had to rely on their defenders to keep clean sheets so they can win games.
“You just have to look at Manchester City’s bench, they have five or six players that don’t start that would get into the starting XIs of other big clubs.
“So for me, the huge difference between Arsenal and Manchester City is their ability to rotate their teams and with more games in the Champions League it will play a part.
“At the moment with his team, Mikel Arteta doesn’t have much choice. They have quality players but not enough of them, they need to sign a striker and potentially make signings in other positions too like in midfield.”
Q: Who would be your dream signing for Arsenal?
EP: “Arsenal have so much ambition, a young average age and Mikel Arteta has just signed a new contract, he and his staff know what they are doing in the transfer market and now they need to bring in some competition.
“One player that Arsenal should go all out for is Nico Williams, it would be a dream signing for Mikel Arteta.
“He is an amazing player and he’ll be wanted by so many clubs, I hope he ends up at Arsenal.”
Q: Could Aston Villa’s Unai Emery be a future Man Utd manager?
EP: “I don’t think Unai Emery will manage one of the biggest clubs in Europe again, despite how much success he has had in Spain and in Europe.
“He’s doing very well at Aston Villa, but they aren’t one of the top clubs in the Premier League, I have the feeling that he doesn’t work well with the egos of top stars.
“It might be hard for him to manage that, he had problems in communication with Arsenal and then PSG, maybe it was to do with the support he was getting from the board?
“I think in terms of his personality, he works better at middle level clubs.”
Q: Could Mikel Arteta be on Man City’s shortlist to replace Pep Guardiola?
EP: “Pep Guardiola has begun to show signs of tiredness in the last two years and you can sometimes see that he is lacking energy.
“Jurgen Klopp leaving Liverpool was a huge blow for Guardiola because he had that competition to push him to be at his very best.
“He’s not a worse manager now but I think he does look tired and mentally it takes a lot of energy to be a manager at the highest level.
“If Guardiola does decide to leave, the best possible replacement would be Mikel Arteta. He knows the club and he knows the philosophy which he has tried to repeat at Arsenal.
“Things move so fast and anything can happen in football, Arteta could step into Guardiola’s shoes but City wouldn’t be the only club interested in him.”
Q: Is Erling Haaland a better goal scorer than Thierry Henry?
EP: “Erling Haaland is a great goalscorer and has broken so many records, he’s a machine. He rested over the summer with Norway not at Euro 2024 so he can break even more.
“However, you cannot compare him to Thierry Henry or Alan Shearer.
“Those players had a long long career at the top of the game and also, how many goals would Shearer score in this Manchester City team? His record would be much higher.
“What Haaland has done so far is amazing and I'mpretty sure that he can repeat exactly the same this season. But I'm still left wondering about him in the biggest games in the Champions League.
“When City won the Champions League he didn’t score after the quarter-finals and he hasn’t had the chance in major international games so I’m still waiting to see that.
“If he wants to be considered as one of the best strikers ever then that is what he will need to do. I won’t be comparing him to Shearer and Henry yet.”
Q: Are Chelsea disrespecting the Conference League by leaving Cole Palmer out?
EP: “Chelsea have shown exactly what they think of the Conference League by leaving Cole Palmer out of their squad – they want to be back in the Champions League and fight for that in the Premier League.
“It's a long way for them. It’s a lot of work for Enzo Maresca’s staff with so many players in the dressing room.
“Maybe they want to improve younger players through the Conference League and keep the spine of their best players for the Premier League.”
Q: Is Reece James Chelsea’s version of Jack Wilshere?
EP: “Reece James’ injury problems have similarities to Jack Wilshere, he must be so frustrated.
“I have no idea what is going on behind the scenes, something must be going wrong somewhere, but he has had so much bad luck that it feels like he is cursed.
“Can you imagine having to recover and then getting injured again and again. He must be so tired mentality and I feel for him. I wish him all the best.”
Q: Is Chelsea’s sale of Conor Gallagher looking worse and worse?
EP: “I knew how much a mistake selling Conor Gallagher would be before it went through and the decision just looks worse and worse.
“I know that they have splashed the cash and need to stay inside the rules but Gallagher should not have been on the list of players to sell.”
Q: Will Chelsea’s players lose motivation due to their long contracts like Nicolas Jackson?
EP: “Chelsea players landing these long contracts have hit the jackpot. They have nothing to prove anymore. They can sit on these deals for nine years without having to earn a new one.
“Also, new players joining Chelsea will know what they can push for. It could make things very difficult.”
Q: Did Liverpool’s loss show that they are not ready for a title race?
EP: “Despite losing to Nottingham Forest, Liverpool will still be in the title race.
“They have kept their best players and even though they have changed managers they have a team that have been playing together for years and now each other inside out.
“They have big ambitions and started the season well and bounced back from losing to Nottingham Forest by beating AC Milan showing big personality and character.
“We’ve seen Arsenal slip up and Manchester City in the past so these things can happen, Liverpool will still be up there in the title race.”
Q: Should Liverpool target Joshua Kimmich as a holding midfielder?
EP: “Joshua Kimmich would be a good addition to Liverpool. I’m not sure he would be able to compete for the right-back position but he would offer a good option in holding midfield also.
“I like the way he can conduct the tempo of games with his passing and he’s got so much experience now with Bayern Munich and Germany.
“I’m sure he has ambitions having been in the Bundesliga for so long so maybe Liverpool would be the best place for a new challenge.”
Q: Is the form of Marcus Rashford key to Erik ten Hag keeping his job?
EP: “I think the future of Erik ten Hag is linked to the form of Marcus Rashford, but also several other players on top of that.
“Rashford scored in the Carabao Cup but he hasn’t been at his best in the Premier League for the last two years a long time again.
“Ten Hag needs Rashford at his best to keep his job, but not just him.”
Q: What did you make of Rodri saying that players will strike over their fixture schedule?
EP: “Fans won’t understand Rodri’s complaints, but players receive so much pressure from the media and it can be very difficult for them. The scale of the game is getting ridiculous and we all know that the powers only care about the business and not the players. Football is about money.
“But what is the solution? Players want to play less games but they don’t want less money so they need to play less games without striking.
“The solution is for UEFA or FIFA to limit the amount of games that players can play in a season, 50 games for example?
“The big players won’t be happy and their clubs won’t be happy but it will force them to use their entire squad and not just 18 players that managers stick with.
“It will then be up to the managers to manage players and their minutes. Players are happy to receive so much money but not to play so many games.
“But they earn £20 million a year, some players so you have to put things into balance. I think a limit on the amount of games players can play in could work.”
Q: How would you compare the owners of Wrexham to the owners of Chelsea?
EP: “Wrexham’s owners are in a completely different world to Chelsea’s owners.
“I’m a huge fan of Ryan Reynolds as an actor and a person but also as a club owner now, he has good values alongside Rob McElhenny and they’ve already had two promotions and are even competing to get into the Championship thanks to them.
“They are doing things properly, step by step, they have the money and the ambition, it’s a dream for their fans and I'mactually quite jealous!
“They have done great things already and the fans just look delighted. Maybe one day they will sell the club if they get to the Premier League, but it’s been a great story so far.”
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