Former Arsenal superstar Emmanuel Petit has bashed the club for not supporting manager Unai Emery with funds during the winter transfer window.
Arsenal legend and former France international Emmanuel Petit has hit out the club for failing to back manager Unai Emery in the recently concluded transfer window, in an interview with Independent.ie.
The 48-year-old Petit, who spent three seasons with Arsenal between 1997 and 2000, expressed his disappointment at the lack of determination the Gunners showed in their recent 3-1 defeat at the hands of Premier League champions Manchester City.
While Arsenal secured the loan signing of Denis Suarez from Barcelona, Petit questioned the board’s decision to not sanction any permanent transfers in the January window, before claiming that the team’s fortunes will continue to decline if there is no heavy investment in the transfer market.
“The frustration level must be very high for Emery as in only his second transfer window as Arsenal manager, he was told he cannot sign anybody,” Petit told Independent.ie in an exclusive interview.
“You look at the money Manchester United, Liverpool and Manchester City spend and unless you join them and put the cash on the table to compete for the best players, you are going nowhere. Tottenham are not spending money, but they are in the position Arsenal were in a few years ago building a stadium, but there is no excuse for Arsenal now”
Having gone on a sensational 22-match unbeaten streak in the first half of the season, Arsenal have failed to find the same rhythm since that run ended against Southampton in December.
The North London outfit have picked up just ten points from their previous seven league matches. In that run, they did manage to beat Chelsea, but were handed heavy defeats by Liverpool, City, while they also succumbed to a 1-0 loss against London rivals West Ham United.
Arsenal currently find themselves in the sixth place in the Premier League table, three points off of Chelsea, who occupy the final UEFA Champions League qualifying spot. They also crashed out of both the domestic competitions over the last month, putting further pressure on the manager.
With Arsenal’s hopes of making it to Europe’s premier competition hanging in the balance, the Gunners need to get things back on track swiftly, or they face the prospect of a third season without Champions League football, which would further hinder their spending power in the transfer market next summer.
