Arteta coy on whether Arsenal need to sign new striker and admits Sterling mistake

Mikel Arteta admits his side’s lack of goals is a concern but says he has not thought about whether Arsenal need to sign a new striker to address it.

The Gunners have failed to score in their last two games, both 1-0 defeats to Inter and Newcastle, and have managed only the joint sixth most goals in the Premier League this season with 17.

But asked whether a new striker is needed, Arteta said: “I don’t analyse things like this.

“It (the lack of goals) is a concern because you need goals to win games consistently.

“We need to find solutions and the solutions at the end are goals. It has to be goals, that’s where we can judge if that solution is good, only if the ball ends up in the back of the net. That’s the secret of this job.”

Arteta chose to leave summer signing Raheem Sterling on the bench against Newcastle despite being a goal down and the Arsenal boss now admits that was a mistake, and says the on-loan forward has a big part to play this season.

“That was a decision of mine, nothing to do with Raheem,” he said.

“Somebody got it wrong and that was me. It’s the feeling that you have and the understanding of how you can damage the opponent and picking a different player with a different profile in that moment.”