Arsenal need a £150million rebuild just to get back into the Premier League’s top-four, talkSPORT has been told.
Former Gunner Perry Groves insists there MUST be investment into improving the team this summer, but has warned manager Mikel Arteta he may not be the man to oversee the spending.
The Gunners are facing their worst season for 25 years as they battle to even finish in the top half of the Premier League.
Their misery was compounded by a Europa League exit to Villarreal on Thursday, who are managed by ex-boss Unai Emery, to all but guarantee no European football next season – for the first time since 1995/96.
Question marks are being raised about Arteta and also the wider structure of the club with recruitment under the Kroenke ownership coming under scrutiny.
Arsenal legend Perry Groves believes serious investment is needed in the team if they are to get anywhere close to the top-four.
“I’m very critical of Arteta at this time because he’s gone backwards,” he told Jim White on talkSPORT.
“This team now needs £150million minimum to put us back into the top-four. The owners have questions to ask they are going to invest the money.
“If they are not going to invest the money, then we are going to be languishing in mid-table obscurity and looking down instead of up.
“The question marks with the owners will be, you’ve said the right things in backing the manager and are you going to sell?”
When asked who was in a worse position, Arsenal or Tottenham, Groves picked his old club, admitting the Gunners have slipped behind their arch rivals.
Speculation has ramped up over Arteta’s future following their Europa League exit and Groves believes the Spaniard could be axed if he loses to relegation-battling West Brom on Sunday.
He added: “It’s not untenable at the moment, but it can be very quickly. He’s lucky that there are no crowds.
“If there was a crowd in on Sunday against West Brom, even if it was 4,000, that would be pretty vitriolic.
“He’s now one game away because if he gets beaten by West Brom, then I think he’ll go.
“The thing that worries me is that he’s got worse and he’s overcoaching. When he first went in their he tried to make his mark and won the FA Cup, which no one saw coming.
“He then had the goodwill of the Arsenal fans. I think there’s a manager in there, but he’s not getting enough help from the coaching staff.
“That doesn’t inspire me either.”