Jamie Carragher urges Mikel Arteta to replace £64m star and reveals Arsenal ‘worry’

Jamie Carragher has revealed his ‘worry’ for Arsenal after the Carabao Cup final defeat to Manchester City and urged Mikel Arteta to replace Viktor Gyokeres this summer.

Arsenal spurned their first chance to win a trophy this season, losing 2-0 to Premier League title rivals Man City at Wembley.

The Gunners were hoping to not only lift their first major trophy since 2020 but keep alive their hopes of a historic quadruple.

But after a cagey opening 45 minutes Arsenal were outplayed in the second half, with Nico O’Reilly’s quickfire brace earning Pep Guardiola his fifth Carabao Cup trophy.

Despite the setback, Arsenal can still enjoy a hugely successful season as they look to clinch their first Premier League title in 22 years and win the Champions League for the first time.

Carragher does not expect Man City’s Carabao Cup win to lead to a Premier League title but says Arsenal’s lack of ‘special attacking players’ is a ‘worry’.

Only Viktor Gyokeres has hit double figures for Arsenal this season but Carragher still has doubts over the Swedish striker and believes he should be replaced in the summer.

‘I don’t think it will affect the league because Arsenal have got such a big gap,’ the Liverpool legend and ex-England defender said on The Overlap.

‘But my thing with Arsenal now – and you could probably say this with every team in the Premier League – is there’s not enough special players.

‘Arsenal are the best team in the league and have an amazing record but I still look at the attack and think it’s only okay.

‘There’s no star player and sometimes you need that player when you’re not playing well like they wasn’t in the cup final.

‘I don’t think Arsenal have enough special players in attack and that would worry me a bit for the Champions League.

‘I thought two years ago that [Bukayo] Saka and [Martin] Odegaard were going to be the real deal and be like [Mohamed] Salah and [Kevin] De Bruyne. They were nearly there.

‘Arsenal are probably going to win the league but if they do I don’t think any of the attacking players will think they’ve had an amazing season. It’s just not clicked.’

Responding to Arsenal legend Ian Wright discussing the performance of Gyokeres against Man City, Carragher added: ‘You still need to buy a centre forward.’

Arsenal have been linked with a move for Julian Alvarez ahead of the summer transfer window and the ex-Manchester City striker recently suggested he could leave Atletico Madrid at the end of the season.

Asked whether he would be at Atletico next season, Alvarez said earlier this month: ‘I don’t know, I might be, or I might not. I’m happy. I’m thinking about the day to day.’

His current boss Diego Simeone, meanwhile, urged Alvarez to stay at the club ‘for many years’ after his side knocked Tottenham out of the Champions League.

‘He looks happy to me,’ Simeone said. ‘He’s scoring goals, if you look at the teams he’s been at [River Plate and Man City], Atletico is the team where he’s scored the most goals.

‘He looks committed, positive. There isn’t much difference between this season and last season in terms of the goals he’s scored.

‘Let’s hope he can stay for many years at Atletico Madrid, and we can keep building a team so that important players want to stay.’

Alvarez, a two-time Premier League winner with Manchester City, has scored 46 goals in 100 appearances for Atletico Madrid.

Gyokeres, meanwhile, has netted 16 goals in 42 games since his £64m move from Sporting to Arsenal last summer.

For more stories like this, check our sport page.

Follow Metro Sport for the latest news on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.