Ian Wright makes Mikel Arteta and Edu transfer claim as Arsenal lose title race

Arsenal slipped to a 1-0 defeat to Nottingham Forest on Saturday evening which means City have retained their Premier League title with three games to spare.

Arteta’s side had been leading for the majority of the season but a drastic dip in form has seen the Gunners register just nine out of a possible 24 points in their last eight games.

Arsenal have already been linked with signing a new central midfielder ahead of the summer transfer window, and Wright is confident that Arteta and technical director Edu are doing all they can to close the gap on City.

Addressing the gap between City and Arsenal in the closing stages of the season, Wright told Premier League Productions: ‘I don’t think you can question the quality of the manager [Pep Guardiola], the players, the intensity, their determination to win, to have a standard of football that we are talking about as some of the greatest we’ve ever seen.

‘We can’t ignore that they have got the capability of buying the players where they can continue to replenish a squad that we’ve seen just demolish teams.

‘This is why five out of six Premier Leagues they’ve won, because they’ve got the best coach, they’ve got the best team, they’ve got great resources, it’s very difficult for other teams to live up to the pressure, Liverpool lost one game.

‘You know the levels they’re setting, that’s why it’s a tough job for Arsenal, it’s going to be so hard. But I think Edu and Mikel are all over it in trying to bring the kind of player who can sustain a challenge.’

For more stories like this, check our sport page.