Paul Merson has urged Arsenal to sign at least two new players this summer after being crowned Premier League champions.
Mikel Arteta guided Arsenal to their first Premier League title since 2004, with the Gunners finishing seven points ahead of Manchester City.
Arsenal lifted their first Premier League trophy in 22 years at Selhurst Park on Sunday and were celebrating the monumental achievement long into the night.
Arteta gave his squad the day off on Monday, with Arsenal’s players set to return to training on Tuesday as preparations begin for this weekend’s Champions League final against PSG.
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Arsenal are holding a trophy parade in north London on Sunday and will hope to display the Champions League trophy as well as the Premier League gong to their adoring fans.
Attentions will then turn to the summer transfer window and a chance for Arteta to bolster his squad even further ahead of Arsenal’s title defence.
Arteta will reportedly have another £200m to play with in the transfer market and Merson believes the majority of that should be splashed on Julian Alvarez.
Alvarez is expected to leave Atletico Madrid this summer and Arsenal are one of the frontrunners to secure his signature along with PSG and Barcelona.
The Argentine scored 36 goals across his two seasons at Manchester City and also helped Pep Guardiola’s side win two Premier League titles and the Champions League.
Alvarez has continued to impress at Atletico, scoring 49 goals in two seasons, but is believed to be keen to move on as trophies have eluded him since moving to Madrid.
The 26-year-old has indicated to Atletico that he is open to leaving this summer, with club officials adamant he will only be sold for a staggering fee of around 150m euros (£130m).
Merson has suggested Alvarez would be worth every penny, however, insisting Arsenal should launch a move for the striker and also sign a new midfielder in the upcoming window.
‘I would get a centre forward this summer, I would go for Julian Alvarez,’ Merson said on The Good, The Bad & The Football podcast.
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‘I’m a big fan. If they could get him I would. I still think they probably need another midfield player as well.’
Gary Neville has also suggested Arsenal should look to sign a new striker and another midfielder this summer.
‘Arsenal will need to add again [in the transfer market] but at this point right now when they’ve won the title and got a Champions League final I don’t want to focus on that,’ he said on his Sky Sports podcast.
‘I’m not in that mood and I’m actually really happy for them. It’s not the time to start talking about Arsenal being built for a second title run.
‘Let’s be clear, they have to be. But I can’t give that too much consideration given we’ve got a Champions League final and a World Cup coming up.
‘We’ll start to think about those things nearer the time and do they need another centre forward as back-up to Viktor Gyokeres? Do they need another central midfielder in case Declan Rice or Martin Zubimendi aren’t quite there?
‘There’s probably a couple of positions that Arsenal will still want to think about but they’ve got a lot of strength in that squad.’
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