Ally McCoist says Arsenal can’t win the Premier League until one player is replaced

Arsenal can’t win the Premier League until they sign an ‘out-and-out goalscorer’ to replace Kai Havertz.

That is the opinion of Ally McCoist following the German forward’s awful performance in Arsenal’s FA Cup defeat to 10-man Manchester United.

The Gunners were knocked out of the cup at the third round stage on penalties following a thrilling 1-1 draw at the Emirates on Sunday.

Mikel Arteta’s side dominated the match but spurned countless chances to score, with Havertz at one stage blazing the ball over the bar from just a few yards out, and he was the only player to miss his spot-kick in the shootout.

The 25-year-old was also criticised for winning a penalty after going down under very minimal contact from Harry Maguire, and many felt justice was done when Martin Odegaard’s subsequent effort was saved by Altay Bayindir.

While Havertz has earned much praise since his £65million move from Chelsea in 2023 and is Arsenal’s top scorer this season with 12 goals, the forward is not a very clinical player.

‘It’s come back to bite them that they don’t have an out and out goal scorer on the team,’ former Scotland striker McCoist told talkSPORT.

‘Kai Havertz, I think he’s a very good player, I really do, and I’ve liked him for a long time. I think he’s a very intelligent player but an out-and-out centre-forward he is not.

‘He can play the position as a kind of stop gap if you’re really struggling, he can play a false-10 or a false-nine however you want to call it. He can do that but not long term.

‘I just believe that to win the league you’ve got to have somebody that’s going to get you 25 goals a season.’

After coming close to winning the league in the last two seasons, Arsenal are on course to fall short again, with the club six points behind leaders Liverpool having played a game more.

Moreover, they’re enduring an injury crisis up top with Bukayo Saka, Ethan Nwaneri and now Gabriel Jesus ruled out with long-term issues, leading to more calls for them to sign a new forward.

talkSPORT host Jeff Stelling stated: ‘They can’t win the league with Kai Havertz playing up front or as a false-nine’, to which McCoist replied: ‘I agree.

‘You look at [Manchester] City, they’ve got [Erling] Haaland obviously, but Liverpool have got goals all the way through, certainly in their forward line. [Mohamed] Salah who’s not an out and out centre forward but arguably the best player in the country will get you 20-25.

‘[Diogo] Jota will get you a good few, [Luis] Diaz will get you a good few, [Darwin] Nunez will get you a few, not as many as he should. They’ve got goals coming from all over the place.

‘Arsenal have got to get somebody that’s going to get them 25-30 a season, I think it’s pretty straightforward. I’m not sure, it might be too late for this year’s league campaign, it’s certainly too late for the FA Cup that’s for sure.’

There’s little time for Arsenal to recover from their cup knockout however, with the Gunners set to host north London derby rivals Tottenham on Wednesday night.

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