Arsenal MUST spend this month, insists Ian Wright – as Gunners legend claims Mikel Arteta ‘needs help’ from the board after Newcastle defeat

Ian Wright has urged the Arsenal board to back Mikel Arteta in the January transfer window to save their season.

The Gunners suffered a disappointing 2-0 defeat to Newcastle in the first leg of their Carabao Cup semi-final at the Emirates on Tuesday evening.

Arsenal dominated much of the match and although Kai Havertz and Gabriel Martinelli missed big chances, they struggled to beat Newcastle and often looked toothless in attack.

Arteta’s side are currently missing star player Bukayo Saka with a hamstring injury, while captain Martin Odegaard has struggled with his form in recent weeks.

In the past month the Gunners have also dropped points against Fulham, Everton and Brighton, falling behind in the Premier League title race. Their offensive struggles were put in the spotlight.

And after the Newcastle game, Arsenal legend Wright insisted the club will continue to face problems for the rest of the season unless they spend January.

The Gunners struggled to create chances during their 2-0 Carabao Cup defeat to Newcastle

Wright insisted that Arteta ‘needs help’ from the board if he is to save Arsenal’s season

“You have to look at the board now,” said the former Gunners striker ITV. “I don’t know what you’re doing, but you have to try to do something.”

‘Listening to (Newcastle star) Anthony Gordon. Once they go deep into Newcastle they feel there won’t be enough to break them apart from what we’ve seen with Martinelli and we haven’t seen that often enough.

‘He (Arteta) needs help. I know it is very difficult to get something in this period of January, but he needs something else because if it continues like this it will be very difficult to score.

‘We don’t score with the corners, we don’t score with the chances we create, something has to change. Something has to be done…’

Wright’s comments come despite Arsenal’s high spending on their rivals since Arteta was appointed in 2019.

The Spaniard has signed 30 players during his tenure for a total fee of £714 million, representing a net spend of £500.14 million, according to Football Transfers data.

By comparison, Man City’s net spend in the same period was just £59.75 million.

However, the problem may arise in the distribution of Arsenal’s expenditure.

Arsenal are struggling with creativity in the absence of Bukayo Saka due to a hamstring injury

Wright stressed that something needs to happen this month before Arsenal can solve the problems

The Gunners dominated much of the game in Newcastle, but were also wasteful in front of goal

Arteta has spent £299.2m on defenders and £275.4m on midfielders over the past five years, but only £140m on strikers, including the £65m addition of Kai Havertz in the summer of 2023.

Nevertheless, Les Ferdinand, who worked with Wright for ITV, echoed his colleague’s thoughts and felt Arsenal’s play was too slow against Newcastle.

“Yes, I mean the chance they had when Gabriel Martinelli went through, I thought that was their best option,” he added.

“But to do that they had to move the ball faster and have runners, but it seemed like they were struggling for an answer tonight.”

It remains to be seen whether Arsenal will enter the market this month – especially with Saka absent – although both Leandro Trossard and Martin Odegaard have joined during the winter window in previous years.

They will be hoping to overturn a 2-0 deficit in the second leg of the semi-final next month, with Arteta’s side currently six points behind Liverpool in the Premier League title race, although the Reds do have a game in hand.

Arsenal are back in action on Sunday when they host Man United in the third round of the FA Cup.