Arsenal legends back Mikel Arteta to sign two Premier League stars

Arsenal legends Charlie Nicholas and Paul Merson have backed Mikel Arteta to sign two Manchester City players this summer.

Mikel Arteta is keen to bolster his Arsenal squad in the coming months after an underwhelming end to the 2021-22 season.

The Gunners looked on course for a top-four finish for most of the season but struggled towards the end of the campaign to slip to fifth, two points behind north London rivals Tottenham.

Arteta needs to sign a new striker following the recent departures of Alexandre Lacazette and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, and also wants a new central defender and centre-back.

Former Arsenal striker Nicholas believes Gabriel Jesus would be ‘a very good signing’, with the Manchester City star weighing up his future amid interest from the Gunners, Real Madrid, Chelsea and Tottenham.

‘Under Pep Guardiola he wasn’t a favourite and didn’t always play, but if they get him at a decent price, I’d be amazed if he doesn’t score at least 20 goals in the league for Arsenal,’ Nicholas told BonusCodeBets.

‘That’s what Jesus likes to do. He likes to play around the edge of the box, with a lovely burst of pace, and that’s what Arsenal miss. It would be a very good signing if they could nail him down.’

Merson, meanwhile, has endorsed Arsenal’s move for fellow Manchester City star Oleksandr Zinchenko.

Writing in a column for Sportskeeda, Merson said: ‘Zinchenko doesn’t play all the time for City, but he’s been a top player for Guardiola and never looks out of place regardless of where he is deployed on the pitch.

‘For Ukraine, he plays as a central midfielder and looks like a proper footballer who can make a difference at any point in the game.

‘A lot of people don’t speak about this, but Zinchenko sort of changed