Ex-Arsenal star reveals one thing that could cost them Premier League title this season as Gunners seek to end Manchester City dominance

For the past two seasons, Arsenal have been pipped to the post by Manchester City - who won a record fourth-straight Premier League title last season. Now, former Gunners defender William Gallas has backed his old team to top the pile in 2024-25 - but only if they sign someone in the mould of the prolific Erling Haaland, as Havertz and Jesus aren't clinical enough.

The ex-France international told Genting Casino: "I’m sticking by my prediction of Arsenal winning the title but they still need a top-class striker that can go and score them 20 goals in the Premier League. The only issue is that they haven’t signed that striker yet, despite coming so close to being champions last season. They got that close without having a striker who could score 20 goals, Manchester City won it because they have Erling Haaland. You have to have a player like that. With Gabriel Jesus, he has injuries and isn’t consistent enough. I’m also not convinced by Kai Havertz, he scored goals but many were penalties, they need to buy a striker."

Havertz and Jesus scored 22 goals between them in all competitions last season but Haaland fired in 38 on his own - and 27 of those were in the Premier League. But signing a 20-goal striker is not easy to do, with those sorts of players costing tens of millions of pounds. With a few weeks left of the transfer window, it remains to be seen if they will bring in a new forward.

Mikel Arteta's Arsenal have two more pre-season friendlies left, the first of which is against Bayer Leverkusen on Wednesday evening and then Lyon on Sunday. They kickstart their Premier League campaign on August 17 at home to Wolves.