Club legend Ian Wright has explained why he would not necessarily want to start Man City striker Erling Haaland at Arsenal if they had him in their squad.
Haaland has been in phenomenal form for Man City this season following his £51m summer move from Bundesliga side Borussia Dortmund.
The forward is on track to score 60+ goals this season as he already has 47 in 40 outings across all competitions. This includes 32 goals in 28 Premier League appearances.
Even with Haaland’s prolific goalscoring, Man City are trailing Arsenal in the Premier League title race. Pep Guardiola’s side are currently four points behind their rivals with a game in hand.
The Gunners will be seven points clear at the top if they beat Southampton while Man City are busy focusing on their FA Cup semi-final against Sheffield United.
Wright thinks Arsenal currently have “so many different ways to hurt a team” and he is wary that the addition of Haaland would “mess up the equilibrium”.
“Progress the ball from the back… Thomas Partey… Odegaard… Saka… (Leandro) Trossard… Martinelli… (Gabriel) Jesus… so many different ways to hurt a team,” Wright told The Athletic.
“As much as I was really pleased to be somebody that was at the time the main goalscorer, and you do want somebody who’s scoring between 15 and 25 league goals a season, I believe that when you are able to spread the goals around, people can’t plan for it.
“Of course, you look at Erling Haaland. Magnificent. Amazing what he’s doing and good luck to him. But would I change what we’re doing for somebody who’s scoring goals like that? I don’t know. It may mess up the equilibrium of what’s going on. I’m not sure.”
READ MORE: Premier League winners and losers… Emery brilliant, Chelsea plunged into actual relegation battle
City legend Micah Richards thinks Arsenal are capable of “coming away with at least a point” from the Etihad when the top two face each other next week.
‘Arsenal fans will not see things this way but what has happened over the last seven days has the potential to work in their team’s favour,’ Richards wrote for The Daily Mail.
‘Put simply, there is now no grey area around next week’s trip to Manchester — they have to get a result.
‘Few sides in Premier League history, involved in a title race at this stage of a season, would have given up two points at West Ham, having led 2-0.
‘However, it would be crazy if Mikel Arteta’s squad suddenly allowed doubts to consume them after all the outstanding progress they have made this season.
‘Nothing has been decided and they absolutely have the ability to go to the Etihad on April 26 and come away with at least a point.
‘It will be the game of the season, I’m convinced of it. There is no room for error for either side and I expect it will lead to fireworks.’
READ MORE: Poor decisions, thin squad, Arsene Wenger: all the reasons Arsenal have f***ed the title…
