Graeme Souness and Sol Campbell have insisted Arsenal need to sign at least three new players in the summer.
It’s unclear how active the Gunners will be in the transfer market this summer after being hit hard financially by the COVID-19 crisis.
Asked about the transfer budget he expects to work with this summer, after watching his side beat Liverpool, Mikel Arteta said: “I don’t know. (It’s a) big concern. You need it to build a squad. It’s not magic.
“You need to improve with quality, quality players in the squad and you need bigger squads to compete in this competition. There’s the challenge.”
It sparked conversation in the Sky Sports studio between Souness and Campbell on the key areas Arteta must target, even if he’s on a budget.
Both agreed a centre-half was a priority as well as a central-midfielder, with attacking areas and the goalkeeping department relatively well-stocked.
“If he can get a little bit and he can buy a few quality players, do some good deals, or move people on, then why not? I think some of the young players have been playing really well.
“So, maybe two or three (new signings). They have to look at the centre-half area. The spine of the team is always important. Let’s see how Martinez, the goalkeeper, goes on from here, but the spine of the team is important.”
Souness said: “They’re ninth right now. I liked to listen to him there. It was all common sense. I think basically he’s saying he’s getting the most out of this group of players – in terms of effort and what they’ve got to offer at this time.
