Arteta ‘SCARED’ of Isak as PR stunt claim made

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta his too scared of signing a genuine No.9 and his bid for Aston Villa’s Ollie Watkins was nothing more than a PR stunt to appease supporters, so claims Troy Deeney.

The Gunners face playing the remainder of the season without a genuine centre-forward as Kai Havertz and Gabriel Jesus have both been struck down by injuries.

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The Brazilian was already a long-term issue during the transfer period, but Arsenal gambled on Havertz’s fitness as Arteta branded him a “genetic monster”.

Although there were reports that Arsenal moved for Watkins, it has now been claimed that offer was simply a red herring.

“I know there was a £60 million bid for Ollie Watkins in January but for me that just felt like a PR stunt. Watkins was never going to leave Aston Villa in mid-season,” Deeney told The Sun. “It meant Arsenal could tell their fans: ‘At least we tried’. It didn’t feel as if the club tried too hard.”

Arteta repeated during his press conference on Friday that he felt the Gunners had done everything they could to land a striker during the transfer window.

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Arteta is scared of Isak

While there has been talk of Arsenal launching a huge summer transfer bid for Alexander Isak of Newcastle United, Deeney has told fans not to hold their breath.

“Mikel Arteta is frightened of signing a genuine No.9 like Isak,” Deeney added.

“True centre-forwards always have that element of selfishness, of single-mindedness.

“They are often mavericks, they can often be disruptive, they usually have minds of their own and they live for scoring goals.

“I believe Arteta is so wrapped up in his team ethos that he shies away from signing such players.”

Isak promises to be a very tricky target to land, with Newcastle unlikely to be willing to sell their prized asset.

Instead, FootballTransfers has exclusively revealed that Benjamin Sesko of RB Leipzig is their top target ahead of Viktor Gyokeres.