Micah Richards urges Mikel Arteta to replace £50m Arsenal star | Football

Micah Richards has given his verdict on marquee Arsenal signing Viktor Gyokeres and urged Mikel Arteta to replace Gabriel Martinelli.

Arsenal have put their faith in Gyokeres to solve their goalscoring problems, signing the Sweden international from Sporting for £64m.

Gyokeres enjoyed two sensational seasons at Sporting, scoring 97 goals in 104 appearances, and rejected Manchester United and his former manager Ruben Amorim in favour of a move to Arsenal.

Richards believes Gyokeres will be a ‘very good signing’ for Arsenal, although he admits there are still some ‘question marks’ over the 27-year-old forward.

Arsenal have turned their attentions to signing a new left-winger since completing a deal for Gyokeres and Richards supports that move, claiming Martinelli should now be viewed as an ‘impact player’ rather than a starter in Arteta’s squad.

The Gunners are interested in signing England forward Eberechi Eze from Crystal Palace and Richards insists that would be an ‘amazing’ signing.

The arrival of another forward and particularly a left-winger would increase the chances of Martinelli – and Leandro Trossard – of leaving after both players have been heavily linked with a summer move earlier on the window.

Asked about Arsenal’s transfer business on The Rest Is Football podcast, ex-England defender Richards said: ‘How many times have we said Arsenal need a new striker? We said it every week last season.

‘They’ve needed one for a while now. I still believe they need a left winger as well… they’ve been linked with Eze haven’t they.

‘I think Martinelli can definitely do a job but he’s more of an impact player right now, great to have off the bench, so if they could get Eze that would be amazing.

‘In terms of Gyokeres, I think it’s a very good signing but I still think there are question marks if he can do it at this level consistently.

‘I’ve watched loads of videos of him and I think he’s really good with his movement, he’s a really clever striker.

‘I don’t think people should expect him to hold the ball up really well because I saw some times when it came off him but he still scored two goals in the match so he got lots of praise.

‘He will cause teams problems though and he’s exactly what Arsenal needed, for sure.’

Martinelli, who made 51 appearances for Arsenal last season, was linked with Bayern Munich earlier in the summer but the Bundesliga champions have since signed Luis Diaz from Liverpool.

Arteta is reportedly keen for Martinelli to stay put despite the increased competition at the Emirates Stadium. If he is sold, Arsenal would want at least £50m for the Brazil international.

While Martinelli could yet feature for Arsenal next season, Belgium star Trossard is ‘increasingly likely’ to leave.

The £27m Arteta signing has emerged as a target for Borussia Dortmund and has also received ‘concrete offers’ from two unnamed Premier League clubs.

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