Arsenal are still the favourites to win the Premier League title.
The mood in and around the Emirates Stadium took a hit on Sunday after Manchester United caused an upset over the Gunners.
That has reduced the gap between Arsenal and Manchester City to just four points, which is really concerning for the supporters.
Emmanuel Petit is still backing his old side to go all the way in the title race, but he thinks signing one player will guarantee a first-place finish for Arsenal – Bryan Mbuemo.
Who was at fault for Bryan Mbeumo’s goal vs Arsenal – Martin Zubimendi or William Saliba?
Emmanuel Petit says Arsenal will win the Premier League if they sign Bryan Mbeumo
Mbeumo has had a fine start to life at Manchester United.
The Cameroon international was a terrific player at Brentford and was linked to almost every big club in the Premier League last summer, including Arsenal.
The Gunners signed Noni Madueke instead, and Manchester United sealed the signing of Mbeumo in the end.
At the Emirates on Sunday, the attacker stung the Gunners by scoring the equaliser after Martin Zubimendi’s mistake in the first half.
That gave United the platform they needed to go on and win the game, and Petit was impressed.
After the game, when asked to name a player Arsenal should sign in the January transfer window to guarantee the Premier League title, Petit named Mbeumo.
He said on talkSPORT: “Yesterday (Sunday) I saw exactly what I thought about this player against Arsenal, it’s Mbeumo. I think in terms of movement, he’s very intelligent. He’s got this flair in front of the goal. He’s very good in terms of assists as well.
“I love his work rate. I love his behaviour on the pitch, technically, mentally as well. But more importantly, I like his movement, the link with his players all the time. He brings something different up front.
“He’s not that physical, but in the meantime, he puts everything he has on the pitch. But I love him because he’s very intelligent. When I saw Manchester United buy him in the last transfer market, I thought, this is a good bargain.”
If you could go back in time and sign Bryan Mbeumo instead of Noni Madueke for Arsenal, would you do it?
Why Arsenal did not sign Bryan Mbeumo last summer
As mentioned above, Arsenal were linked with a move to sign Mbeumo from Brentford.
The attacker had multiple options to choose from last summer, and a move to the Gunners, who were challenging for the title, must have been tempting.
However, David Ornstein revealed back in June that Arsenal only saw Mbeumo as a backup to Bukayo Saka and not in a prominent role.
That is why a move did not transpire, and the North Londoners signed Madueke instead, who was considerably cheaper than the Manchester United man.
One can only wonder how different things would have been had Mikel Arteta chosen to sign Mbeumo instead.
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