Considering that Arsenal have not gone past the first knockout stage of the Champions League competition for the last six seasons, it would seem on the face of it that Arsene Wenger still has a lot of work to do with his players to make Arsenal one of the elite European teams with a realistic chance of lifting the European Cup.
Not according to our billionaire Russian shareholder Alisher Usmanov however. In fact the man who owns Red and White holdings has stated his belief that the Frenchman needs just one good signing to make the Gunners a possible winner of the coveted trophy, as reported by The Independent.
Usmanov said, “If there aren’t (any) severe injuries, he’s got a great chance to compete with teams like Chelsea, Manchester United and Manchester City. The championship will be decided between these four teams.
“With the team that Arsene has put together, except for one position, I think it’s a club that’s ready to successfully fight for European cups.”
The position he means is presumably the centre forward one and most of the Arsenal fans are still hoping that the boss will go back to the transfer market before the summer window shuts, with Karim Benzema and Gonzalo Higuain the most likely targets according to the Arsenal transfer rumours.
But while a lot of people now see Arsenal as potential Premier League winners, does that really apply to Europe as well. Considering that we were knocked out by a very unfancied Monaco team last time, you would say no, but if you think back to that killer first leg at home and the hatful of chances missed by Olivier Giroud, you could say that a top striker would have seen us in the quarter-finals. And then who knows what might5 have happened?
What do you think about the comments of Usmanov and how far Arsenal are from winning the Champions League?