Arsenal
Gary Neville makes giant double Arsenal transfer prediction as two deals set to be announced
Gary Neville has backed Arsenal for success
Gary Neville believes that Arsenal are strengthening their squad with the signings being made this summer.
The Gunners turned to all three of their current new additions when they beat Manchester City on penalties to win the Community Shield on Sunday and they enter the season as one of the favourites for the league.
Having defied expectations last season as they rose from fifth in 2021/22 up to second in 2022/23, acting as league leaders for much of the campaign, there is now hope that another step can be taken.
In order to strike whilst the iron is hot, Arsenal have spent more than any other team so far this summer, splashing out £197million on Kai Havertz, Jurrien Timber and Declan Rice. With the added pressure of Champions League football to take into account, their squad is looking strong.
It isn’t set to be the end of their business either. Brentford goalkeeper David Raya is closing in on a move to the Emirates Stadium as he looks to compete for Aaron Ramsdale for the number one spot. With Matt Turner close to securing a move to Nottingham Forest, it is a case of one in, one out
Despite being one of the top performing ‘keepers in the league, as more competition for Ramsdale and a genuine option to takeover the gloves if needed, Raya appears to be a shrewd piece of business having attracted the attention of Chelsea, Tottenham and Bayern Munich in the past 12 months.
Now, Neville sees it as a good piece of work. “I thought Ramsdale did struggle a little bit in the last five or ten games,” he told The Overlap podcast. “I like Raya at Brentford, so I thought the idea of signing him was a message that he’s not taking what happened last season lightly.
It’s the only incoming that he has praised either. “I like Havertz as a player,” Neville added. “I think Havertz was underachieving at Chelsea.”
“I think Havertz is a very good player, I think, at Arsenal, he’ll be a lot better than he was at Chelsea. I’m surprised Pochettino let him go, I thought he would want to work with him.”
Neville picked Havertz to be his unexpected player of the season for the 2021/22 campaign but the German failed to live up to the hype, scoring just 19 league goals over his three years in west London.
His early signs at Arsenal have been along a similar strand to that of which he showed at Chelsea. There have so far been moments of brilliance but also frustration as Arteta plans a way to find the best role and position for him.
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