Emmanuel Petit has stressed the importance of Arsenal securing a striker like Alexander Isak of Newcastle.
While Mikel Arteta has a range of options including Gabriel Jesus, Eddie Nketiah, Folarin Balogun, Kai Havertz, and Leandro Trossard, none of them managed to score more than 11 goals in the Premier League last season. (Balogun excelled on loan at Reims, netting 21 times in Ligue 1.)
Petit, who achieved a Premier League and FA Cup double with Arsenal in 1998, believes that Arteta should capitalize on the final week of the transfer window to acquire a striker of Isak's calibre. Isak has already found the net twice for Newcastle in the current season.
Drawing a parallel between Isak and Arsenal legend Thierry Henry, Petit emphasized that Isak possesses the potential to emulate the iconic French player. Isak made the move to Newcastle from Real Sociedad a year ago and recorded 10 goals in 22 league appearances last season, hampered by injuries.
Petit told BettingSites.co.uk as Mirror Sport reported: "Alexander Isak is tall, aggressive and has great technique. He wants to score every time he gets the ball but he needs to be more precise in his game. Physically and technically, he has a huge presence on the pitch.
"If one day someone can tell me that he plays like Thierry Henry, maybe I will believe them, but for the moment it’s really too soon to say that. He's a good striker and he's someone that Arsenal would be very happy to have because he brings different qualities.
"Jesus and Nketiah play in a similar way, they are different in terms of movement, but physically, technically and in their finishing they are not far apart."
Petit expressed further: "I was upset by Nketiah's finishing against Crystal Palace, he had two good chances, and Arsenal need to have a striker that can score 30 goals in all competitions throughout the season, it's something missing at Arsenal if they want to improve
"Isak is a very good striker and finished very well in the second half of the season last year after being injured. He started well this year again. If he can avoid being injured, because it's been a problem since he arrived, we will see his real qualities."
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