Manchester United hero Owen Hargreaves has declared his ‘love’ for Arsenal stars Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Martinelli and Martin Odegaard. But he also sent boss Mikel Arteta a warning.
Hargreaves adores seeing the Gunners trio attack teams as they are ‘just so fun to watch’. But he feels Arteta must add to his team in the January transfer window as the Spaniard is lacking depth. If Arsenal were to suffer any more injuries, they do not have replacements.
Arteta is already tackling the Premier League season without his star striker, Gabriel Jesus. The Brazilian underwent surgery on his knee after suffering medial ligament damage at the World Cup in December. He is unlikely to return before February and may face longer out.
Arsenal backed Arteta to sign Jesus from Manchester City last summer for £45m to replace Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette. The 25-year-old had a major impact on the Gunners after transforming Arteta’s attack in partnership with Saka and Martinelli.
Arteta now has to rely on Eddie Nketiah scoring the goals to keep Arsenal at the top of the Premier League table. Only Martinelli (seven goals in 17 matches), Odegaard (seven in 16) and Saka (six in 17) have scored more often in the league than Jesus (five in 14) at Arsenal.
Hargreaves sends Arsenal a warning amid praise for Saka, Martinelli and Odegaard
Saka and Martinelli have also featured in all 17 of Arsenal’s Premier League matches so far this campaign. Goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale, Ben White, William Saliba, Gabriel Magalhaes and Granit Xhaka have also featured in all 17 of the Gunners’ top-flight fixtures in 2022/23.
Odegaard has only missed one of Arsenal’s Premier League games this term. The Gunners skipper had to sit out at Brentford in September with a calf injury. He took a knock during training ahead of Arteta’s team taking a 3-0 win. Fabio Vieira started in his place that day.
But given how reliant Arteta has been on eight Arsenal players, including Saka, Martinelli and Odegaard, Hargreaves fears for their Premier League title chances should any player suffer an injury. So, the Manchester United hero has masked his praise with a greater fear.
Hargreaves has told talkSPORT: “I hope they get a body in to help them go win it because the fanbase has had to suffer for a long time and I think it would be great for the Premier League if they won it. [But] I don’t think they have enough depth if someone gets injured.
“I absolutely love Saka, Martinelli and Odegaard. The guys are just so fun to watch. I think it would be a great story but I don’t think they have the depth. You look at Manchester City and Liverpool and what they have on the bench, it’s insane.”
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