‘If Arsenal make this one signing they will have no excuses not to win the title’
Mikel Arteta and Arsenal are primed for a significant summer of spending (Picture: Getty) William Gallas claims Arsenal will have no excuses not to win the Premier League title next season if they sign their No.1 transfer target this summer. The Gunners appear destined to finish best of the rest for the third season in a row having fallen way off the pace set by runaway leaders Liverpool. In mitigation, Arsenal have suffered from an injury crisis that has robbed them of their best attacking players since the turn of the year. Bukayo Saka is closing in on his long-awaited return following the hamstring tear he sustained in November, but fellow forwards Gabriel Jesus and Kai Havertz won’t feature again this term. Given they kept their powder dry in January, Arsenal have at least given themselves extra room to maneuvere during the close season when the focus will be on strengthening their attack. Get personalised updates on Arsenal everyday Wake up to find news on your club in your inbox every morning with Metro’s Football Newsletter. Sign up to our newsletter and then select your team in the link we’ll send you so we can get football news tailored to you. Alexander Isak is understood to be the club’s dream signing, even though the Newcastle centre forward would likely cost in excess of £120 million. Red Bull Leipzig’s Benjamin Sesko is viewed as a potential alternative, especially as Arsenal laid much of the groundwork for his signing prior to Euro 2024, but Gallas is confident Isak is the man who would almost guarantee his old club the success they crave. Will Arsenal sign Alexander Isak this summer? All the indicators suggest Arsenal are prepared for a huge summer of investment and will at least test the waters where Isak is concerned. The Gunners kept their powder dry in January when it appeared they were in dire need of attacking reinforcements even before Kai Havertz’s season-ending injury. It will, however, take a fee well in excess of the £100 million Arsenal spent on Declan Rice two years ago to land a player they really ought to have bought as far back as January 2022, following the decision to exile Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. Whether it would represent a shrewd decision to spend the farm on a player who would solve the striker conundrum at the Emirates is another question. Indeed, Jamie Carragher recently suggested Arsenal’s main issue at present is a lack of creativity and a more sensible course of action might be to sign another winger plus a creative midfielder which would still, in theory, allow Mikel Arteta to sign a centre forward at a more accommodating price. It must be said, as well, that Isak, for his part, has shown absolutely no desire to leave a club who will undoubtedly make him the best paid player in their history should they qualify for next season’s Champions League. Speaking ahead of Sunday’s Wembley final, the Sweden international said: ‘I am not really thinking about the summer yet. ‘That will be a talking point when the season is finished. No talks have been held yet. I have said many times that I don’t really think too much about my future. ‘I have said many times I am happy here and we are competing for titles, which is what you want as a football player. We have been to one final and now we are in another one. ‘The chances are there. We should look at it one season at a time, and this season we can win a trophy. ‘I have said many times I am focused on doing a job. All of our focus is on Sunday and bringing a trophy back.’ Nothing overly sensationalist in those words, but you could infer that this is a player acutely aware of his own value whose desire might well be to remain at Newcastle should they match his ambition and there is little, on recent evidence, to suggest they can’t. James Goldman | Metro Sports Editor Alexander Isak is likely to command plenty of interest this summer (Picture: Shutterstock) ‘If Arsenal sign Alexander Isak they will have no excuses for not winning the Premier League, they could have no excuses,’ the Frenchman told Spin Genie. ‘If they sign Isak and don’t win it, we will all know who has failed.’ As well as setting an exorbitant asking price, Newcastle are also keen to enter into contract negotiations with their star player, whose current deal doesn’t expire until 2028. Newcastle would like to enter into discussions over a new deal and a significant pay rise for Isak, but the player appears to be in no rush, particularly with qualification for next season’s Champions League hanging in the balance. Arsenal fans would love to see Alexander Isak celebrating at the Emirates Stadium in red and white (Picture: Getty) Regardless of any new deal, club legend Alan Shearer has questioned why Isak would want to leave now that Newcastle have finally lifted the trophy monkey from their backs and believes last Sunday’s Carabao Cup success
William Gallas claims Arsenal will have no excuses not to win the Premier League title next season if they sign their No.1 transfer target this summer.
The Gunners appear destined to finish best of the rest for the third season in a row having fallen way off the pace set by runaway leaders Liverpool.
In mitigation, Arsenal have suffered from an injury crisis that has robbed them of their best attacking players since the turn of the year.
Bukayo Saka is closing in on his long-awaited return following the hamstring tear he sustained in November, but fellow forwards Gabriel Jesus and Kai Havertz won’t feature again this term.
Given they kept their powder dry in January, Arsenal have at least given themselves extra room to maneuvere during the close season when the focus will be on strengthening their attack.
Get personalised updates on Arsenal everyday
Wake up to find news on your club in your inbox every morning with Metro’s Football Newsletter.
Sign up to our newsletter and then select your team in the link we’ll send you so we can get football news tailored to you.
Alexander Isak is understood to be the club’s dream signing, even though the Newcastle centre forward would likely cost in excess of £120 million.
Red Bull Leipzig’s Benjamin Sesko is viewed as a potential alternative, especially as Arsenal laid much of the groundwork for his signing prior to Euro 2024, but Gallas is confident Isak is the man who would almost guarantee his old club the success they crave.
Will Arsenal sign Alexander Isak this summer?
All the indicators suggest Arsenal are prepared for a huge summer of investment and will at least test the waters where Isak is concerned.
The Gunners kept their powder dry in January when it appeared they were in dire need of attacking reinforcements even before Kai Havertz’s season-ending injury.
It will, however, take a fee well in excess of the £100 million Arsenal spent on Declan Rice two years ago to land a player they really ought to have bought as far back as January 2022, following the decision to exile Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
Whether it would represent a shrewd decision to spend the farm on a player who would solve the striker conundrum at the Emirates is another question.
Indeed, Jamie Carragher recently suggested Arsenal’s main issue at present is a lack of creativity and a more sensible course of action might be to sign another winger plus a creative midfielder which would still, in theory, allow Mikel Arteta to sign a centre forward at a more accommodating price.
It must be said, as well, that Isak, for his part, has shown absolutely no desire to leave a club who will undoubtedly make him the best paid player in their history should they qualify for next season’s Champions League.
Speaking ahead of Sunday’s Wembley final, the Sweden international said: ‘I am not really thinking about the summer yet.
‘That will be a talking point when the season is finished. No talks have been held yet. I have said many times that I don’t really think too much about my future.
‘I have said many times I am happy here and we are competing for titles, which is what you want as a football player. We have been to one final and now we are in another one.
‘The chances are there. We should look at it one season at a time, and this season we can win a trophy.
‘I have said many times I am focused on doing a job. All of our focus is on Sunday and bringing a trophy back.’
Nothing overly sensationalist in those words, but you could infer that this is a player acutely aware of his own value whose desire might well be to remain at Newcastle should they match his ambition and there is little, on recent evidence, to suggest they can’t.
James Goldman | Metro Sports Editor
‘If Arsenal sign Alexander Isak they will have no excuses for not winning the Premier League, they could have no excuses,’ the Frenchman told Spin Genie.
‘If they sign Isak and don’t win it, we will all know who has failed.’
As well as setting an exorbitant asking price, Newcastle are also keen to enter into contract negotiations with their star player, whose current deal doesn’t expire until 2028.
Newcastle would like to enter into discussions over a new deal and a significant pay rise for Isak, but the player appears to be in no rush, particularly with qualification for next season’s Champions League hanging in the balance.
Regardless of any new deal, club legend Alan Shearer has questioned why Isak would want to leave now that Newcastle have finally lifted the trophy monkey from their backs and believes last Sunday’s Carabao Cup success could act as a springboard to greater things under Eddie Howe.
He told the BBC: ‘Kevin (Keegan) and Sir Bobby (Robson) were both fantastic for the club and both brought different things, but they didn’t bring a trophy. That’s what Newcastle fans have yearned for and now Eddie has done it.
‘Of course now we want more of the same. I look at what happened at Chelsea after they won their first trophy under Jose Mourinho, the 2005 League Cup, and at Manchester City when they ended their long wait for a trophy with the 2011 FA Cup.
‘There are no guarantees, obviously, and we don’t know what will happen next but I am really hoping this is just the start of something very special in the years ahead for Newcastle, and that this trophy is the first of many.’
