Simon Jordan firmly believes that Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta shouldn’t have acquired two players.
The Gunners finished the 2023/24 season in second place, mirroring their performance from the previous year. Although it was a disappointing outcome, there are still many positives to be drawn from the season.
However, Jordan appears to be quite unimpressed with two of Arsenal’s senior players.
Simon Jordan explains why acquiring Gabriel Jesus and Oleksandr Zinchenko was a mistake for Arsenal
Before the start of the 2022/23 season, Arsenal urgently needed experience and a winning mentality.
Mikel Arteta, managing the youngest squad in the Premier League, was eager to recruit players who could serve as role models.
Manchester City duo Gabriel Jesus and Oleksandr Zinchenko, whom Arteta had previously worked with at the Etihad Stadium, were selected.
Both players were instrumental in helping Arsenal become title contenders in their debut season at the Emirates, earning much praise for their contributions.
However, Simon Jordan believes that Arteta shouldn’t have bothered signing them.
He has argued that Arsenal, aiming to surpass Manchester City, should avoid acquiring players who weren’t considered good enough for Pep Guardiola’s team.
“I just think you don’t buy players from another side that you are trying to beat if they aren’t deemed good enough for their team,” Jordan said on talkSPORT (May 20, 2024, 10:27 am).
Jordan has overlooked a crucial point in his assessment
Simon Jordan’s assessment of Arsenal is completely off the mark.
Before the 2022/23 season began, no one anticipated the Gunners would come close to competing for the Premier League title, much less lead the table for two-thirds of the season.
At that point, signing proven winners like Gabriel Jesus and Oleksandr Zinchenko was definitely the right decision, as evidenced by Arsenal’s league position after their arrival.
Even Martin Keown agreed with this after hearing Jordan’s assessment:
“The crucial aspect was Arsenal’s requirement for experience in winning trophies. Zinchenko and Jesus fulfilled that requirement. They brought in something vital. That must be acknowledged. The team consisted of impressionable young players who needed leadership,” commented Keown.
It could be argued that Arsenal have progressed beyond the need for Jesus and Zinchenko now. However, claiming that signing them in 2022 was a mistake is simply a simplistic analysis, in our view.
