‘I still feel Arsenal’: Ian Wright compares Arsenal to Chelsea signing all Arsenal’s transfer target

‘I still feel Arsenal’: Ian Wright compares Arsenal to Chelsea signing all Arsenal’s transfer target

‘I still feel Arsenal’: Ian Wright dismisses Chelsea after ‘very important’ transfer call

Ian Wright has dismissed the suggestion that Mauricio Pochettino’s Chelsea signing Moises Caicedo has ‘nudged them ahead’ of Arsenal.

The former Arsenal striker still thinks that Mikel Arteta’s side will be ‘up there’, whilst he highlighted and questioned who will score the goals for Chelsea this season, as he told Premier League Productions (14/08/23 at 2:10 pm).

After spending close to £1bn since Todd Boehly’s takeover, including a British record transfer deal for Moises Caicedo, many are still questioning if Chelsea have enough goals in their locker.

Nicolas Jackson led the line during his side’s 1-1 draw against Liverpool – and he was lauded by Michael Owen, whilst Christopher Nkunku was also meant to supply goals, but he is now out of action for a while.

There is enough firepower there for Pochettino, including Raheem Sterling, but these players are either still raw, or in Sterling’s case, his form and confidence is out of the window.

Either way, Wright reacted to the Caicedo deal, how players like the 21-year-old are ‘very important’ and to claims that this might ‘nudge them ahead’ of his former side.

“It’s a great move for Caicedo, especially alongside Enzo, said Wright. “I think Enzo and Caicedo will be like, the two in front of the defence that will solidify it.

“But in respect of them being a challenge (to Arsenal), I don’t know who is going to score the goals for them. I think Chelsea will be in and around it. I still feel that Arsenal will still be up there, without a shadow of a doubt.

“You look at somebody like Caicedo in the Brighton midfield, how brilliant he was and how good their defensive record was. Even with somebody like Arsenal, you miss somebody like Thomas Partey.

“That defensive midfielder does so much for the team, not just breaking play up, but the way they can progress the ball as well – it’s a position if you are playing that brand of football, with a defensive midfielder, then he becomes one of the pivotal players – it’s a very, very important player in the system now.”

Mauricio Pochettino Chelsea ian wright
Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images
Pressure mounting on Chelsea now, just like at Arsenal
After spending so much, you just can’t expect to move forward at a slow pace. This Chelsea side will now be expected to do big things pretty quickly.

The pressure is mounting on Arteta and Arsenal, after years of years of big spending, but it seems as though their London rivals have matched them within a year.

Champions League football has to be a minimum because, if that isn’t achieved, then it will cast serious trouble, both for the manager and from a financial perspective.