Raheem Sterling has endured a difficult loan spell at Arsenal this season.
The Gunners opted to acquire the winger temporarily on deadline day in the summer, taking him off Chelsea’s hands at the eleventh hour to bolster Mikel Arteta’s attacking options.
However, the former Manchester City man has struggled in North London, looking significantly past his best and starting just four Premier League games all season thus far.
With Arsenal needing a goal at the City Ground against Nottingham Forest on Wednesday night, Sterling produced another dire cameo performance.
Despite being the only senior forward on the bench, Arteta opted to bring both Kieran Tierney and Oleksandr Zinchenko on before him – a damning reflection of where the 30-year-old stands in the pecking order.
Gary Neville says Arsenal didn’t want to sign Raheem Sterling
The signing of Sterling certainly appeared to be a panic decision by the Arsenal hierarchy.
The Gunners were unable to secure any of their long-term targets, such as Benjamin Sesko and Nico Williams, so ultimately settled on a last-minute loan deal for a Premier League veteran.
Speaking on the Stick to Football podcast, Gary Neville revealed his belief that Arsenal never wanted Sterling.
“I’m not sure the club wanted to sign Sterling,” the pundit said.
“I’m not sure Arsenal would’ve wanted to sign, as a club, Sterling. I think Arteta has thought, ‘I can get him centre-forward, I can get him left wing, I can get him right wing’ and he’s gone in there and said he’s my cover for those three positions.
“I think that’s what he’s said, he can play across the frontline, he’s played centre-forward before for City, he’s done that role and he’s almost like my second, third striker.”
Arsenal opted to sign no-one in January, despite their injury issues, and Neville believes this was a direct result of the way in which Arteta has used Sterling.
“Then what’s happened is they’ve sort of backed him and I think it’s then put them off doing another deal in January of the same ilk because they’re thinking, ‘Well we’ve already brought Raheem in so actually, if you’re not going to use him then what’s the point in adding someone else to it?’ then all of a sudden Havertz gets injured and you’re done.”
The Arsenal hierarchy shouldn’t have been impacted by Raheem Sterling signing in January
Neville’s hypothesis of what entailed in the Emirates boardroom in January certainly makes sense.
Arsenal weren’t willing to scupper their future plans by making a rash signing in the winter window, but another short-term loan deal for a forward could’ve significantly helped Arteta’s team.
The likes of Mathys Tel and Marcus Rashford were available on loan deals without obligations to buy.
However, it’s clear that the way in which the addition of Sterling has panned out potentially deterred the Arsenal decision-makers from enacting a similar deal in January.
Arteta is now having to resort to Mikel Merino up front, meaning not signing anyone was evidently a mistake.
One of Tel or Rashford could’ve made a significant difference to how Arsenal’s attack currently looks, and the Gunners’ hierarchy should learn from this going into the future.
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