Clinton Morrison has said Arsenal are missing a clinical goalscorer in their ranks like Erling Haaland.
The pundit believes the Gunners’ lack of a lethal striker like Haaland could prove to be costly in their bid to win the Premier League, as shared by the Sky Sports Premier League YouTube channel.
Currently, Manchester City are level on points with Arsenal in the league table, with one game in hand over them and a superior goal difference.
Clinton Morrison says Arsenal are missing a player like Erling Haaland
When the Norwegian striker signed for the Sky Blues, despite his prolific start to life in England, many questioned whether an out-and-out goalscorer was the right fit for the side.
Especially considering Pep Guardiola has shown a tendency to favour more technically gifted strikers in the past.
As Erling Haaland has made a mockery of such question marks over his acquisition by Manchester City, Clinton Morrison believes Arsenal miss a world-class goalscorer like him.
“It’s because strikers win you titles and win you football matches and at the moment, they’re missing big chances in big football matches, that’s what changed. And if you look at Man City, they have a centre-forward, [Erling] Haaland who scores goals for fun and then you’ve got someone like [Mohamed] Salah, I know he goes away [to the African Cup of Nations] at the moment, he can score goals for fun”, he said, as shared by the Sky Sports Premier League YouTube channel.
“So, what I’m saying is strikers are the most important for me, on the pitch because they win you matches and win you titles. I think Arsenal do need to get a recognised striker. Listen, [Gabriel] Jesus, I like Jesus, I think he’s a brilliant centre-forward but what he’s good at is all the stuff he does outside the box.”
Clinton Morrison does feel that realistically, Arsenal will struggle to find a goalscorer like Erling Haaland on the market as he is well and truly a generational talent.
“What Merse [Paul Merson] is alluding to is they need someone in the six-yard box, so someone even like a…they’re not going to get someone like a Haaland [but someone] who doesn’t care how many touches he has outside the box, what he cares about is putting the ball in the back of the net and that’s what Arsenal are missing at the moment.”
Selling Gabriel Jesus and signing Erling Haaland was one hell of an upgrade for Manchester City
Clinton Morrison was particularly spot on in mentioning how Gabriel Jesus lacks the killer instinct strikers like Erling Haaland possess.
As sensational as an all-round player he is, Jesus was quite wasteful, even at City and did not pick up the right positions inside the box to prove himself as a reliable goalscorer.
During the 2021/2022 season, despite Manchester City winning the Premier League, the narrative was that they missed a thoroughbred goalscorer in their ranks to succeed in Europe.
Once Erling Haaland’s signature was sealed, he went on to deliver while Gabriel Jesus and Co. slipped up in their quest for Premier League glory.
Time has proven that City made the right decision by letting Jesus leave the club as it seems like they had full faith in Haaland turning out to be a transformative signing.
