Olivier Giroud fears a lack of serious investment could become a major issue for Mikel Arteta at Arsenal.
The Gunners spent the most money of any club in the Premier League across a busy summer transfer window, splashing out in excess of £145million on Ben White, Martin Odegaard, Aaron Ramsdale, Takehiro Tomiyasu, Albert Sambi Lokonga and Nuno Tavares.
However, the north London giants find themselves down in 11th place in the English top flight, despite a resurgent four-match unbeaten streak before the international break.
Arteta has maintained throughout his tenure that he intends to transform Arsenal into a genuine force once again and the Spaniard remains hopeful of a top-four finish this season.
But ex-Arsenal striker Giroud, a former team-mate of Arteta, is not so sure and feels the club will need to back the manager with heavy investment for a sustained period before they can compete towards the top of the table.
Asked how long it will be until Arsenal finish in the top four again, Giroud told talkSPORT: ‘Wow, that’s a good question! I think Mikel Arteta has got time to come back in the top four.
‘But sometimes the problem is that money plays a huge part in success also.
‘When you see Chelsea after winning the Champions League spend over £80million (£97.5m) on Romelu Lukaku to reinforce the forward line and after spending a lot of millions the year before, I think money plays a huge part.
‘That’s the thing with Arsenal. Maybe they don’t put as much in as their opponents.’
Giroud, now with AC Milan, admits he found it ‘even more tough’ to leave Chelsea than Arsenal in the summer.
‘I spent three seasons-and-a-half there [at Chelsea],’ the France international added.
‘I had an amazing time at Arsenal but [at Chelsea] I can say even more because I…
Source : metro
