Raheem Sterling is the player in question, with Arteta pushing the Gunners to bring the England international to The Emirates after he was effectively banished from Chelsea by their new head coach Enzo Maresca.
Indeed, Maresca made it clear he would not be calling on Sterling‘s services this season after leaving Championship winners Leicester City to take over the Stamford Bridge hotseat.
And, with Sterling out in the cold, he felt that a switch to north London was the ‘perfect fit’, only to struggle to make any kind of an impact for Arsenal – netting just one goal and two assists in 21 appearances in all competitions.
To that end, Neville doubts the Arsenal board even wanted to sign Sterling but believes they were persuaded by Arteta, who presumably viewed the four-time Premier League winner as a versatile option across his frontline.
Neville even believes Sterling’s struggles with the Gunners played a part in the club failing to make any signings in January, when they were clearly looking to bring in a new striker after the injury to Gabriel Jesus.
That decision certainly backfired after Kai Havertz joined the injury list, with Arsenal now struggling for goals and a whopping 13 points behind leaders Liverpool in the title race.
Speaking on The Overlap, Neville said: “Do you know what I think they’ve done? In the last part of the summer transfer window, I’m not sure Arsenal wanted to sign Raheem Sterling.
“I’m not sure Arsenal, as a club, wanted him. I think Arteta’s thought Sterling can play in all the positions up top and has basically told the club to get him in as cover. I think that’s what he said. He can play across the frontline so Arteta has looked at him as his second or third striker.
“They’ve ended up backing him and I think that’s put them off doing another deal in January of the same ilk because they’re thinking we brought Sterling in and Arteta hasn’t really used him.”
Sterling started Arsenal’s victory over Leicester City earlier in the month but has dropped back to the bench for the last two games, a 1-0 defeat to West Ham and Wednesday’s goalless draw with Nottingham Forest.
Arteta switches focus to Champions League
Failing to win at the City Ground meant Liverpool were able to extend their lead at the top of the table to 13 points after they saw off Newcastle, and asked whether his side’s title hopes are now over after the Forest stalemate, Arteta said: “It’s about what we can do.
“It was like this a week before, two weeks before, three months before. Today we dropped two points which is very painful, we have the Champions League, a beautiful competition in front of us.”
Former Arsenal defender Martin Keown has already ruled out any chance of title success and believes the Gunners might even need to look over their shoulders when it comes to finishing in the top four.
Meanwhile, Match of the Day pundit Stephen Warnock described Arsenal as “vulnerable” after failing to score for a second consecutive game.
Reflecting on the Gunners injury-hit frontline, Warnock said: “If Liverpool lost Mohamed Salah, Diogo Jota, Luis Diaz and Coady Gakpo, then they wouldn’t be in the position they are in.
“It is tough for Arsenal because they have lost these players but there has got to be a desire to get in the box and run forward.
“They are vulnerable to the counter-attack so it is understandable that they have gone back-to-back games without scoring.”
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