Merson: Arsenal should break bank for Isak, TAA will end up at Real

With the January transfer window open, Paul Merson gives his take on whether Arsenal need a striker, Trent Alexander-Arnold’s Liverpool future and why Manchester City need a Rodri replacement.

Despite Gabriel Jesus’ goal-scoring outings in recent weeks, the Sky Sports pundit says Newcastle’s Alexander Isak would “take Arsenal to the next level”.

Premier League leaders Liverpool also continue to face questions over the contracts of Alexander-Arnold – who is attracting interest from Real Madrid – Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk.

Meanwhile, could Manchester City still rescue their season by bringing in a midfielder to fill the void left by the injured Rodri?

Read on for Merson’s thoughts on what could unfold in the transfer window over the next month…

‘Arsenal should break the bank for Isak’

If I was Arsenal and had the money, I’d go out and buy [Alexander] Isak. I’d break the bank for him. He’s the best of the best and takes Arsenal to another level.

What I like about Jesus is he’s got back into the team and said ‘this time round, I’m going to get in the box and score goals. If I’m going to stay in this team, I need to score goals’ and that’s what he’s done. The goal against Brentford was a proper poacher’s goal and it’s rare we see him in the six yard box, heading them in.

With Kai Havertz coming back as well, it pushes him back to midfield but as a forward, Havertz will naturally get into the box and there’s an extra body in there.

If Jesus can keep doing what he’s doing, they won’t have to [bring in a striker]. But looking at the all-round picture and next season as well, if they can get hold of Isak, who I think is the best in the business at the moment, I think that would be a massive coup for Arsenal.

‘Trent will join Real – but I’d be shocked if it happens in January’

£20m in football terms is a cup of tea. It’s hardly anything in the Premier League. You’ve got to keep him. He’s a special player, let’s make the most of watching him in the next four or five months.

His range of passing is second to none, we have to enjoy him. Surely he won’t want to go to Real Madrid at this time.

Liverpool have an unbelievable chance of winning the Premier League. They did it in 2020 when The Kop wasn’t full and there was no-one there. Unless you’re a Man Utd or Arsenal fan, who wouldn’t want them to win the league this season?

I don’t know if anyone’s ever turned down Real Madrid. They’re just a special club, he’s not going downwards. Liverpool have got a much bigger chance of winning the Champions League this season, but if they get him they’ve got an unbelievable talent.

He’ll be at Real Madrid [next season]. I can’t see anything but Real Madrid. When you get your contract down to the last six months, the amount of money he’s lost from not signing a new deal on higher wages.

I don’t see it not happening, but I’d be majorly shocked if it happened in January.

‘To have your three best players contracts ending in six months is criminal’

I think all three of Trent, Van Dijk and Salah have been an absolute credit if I’m being honest. 


I think for them to have their contracts whittled down to six months left, how that ever happens in football, it’s criminal. To have three of your best players’ contracts all end in six months is just it’s unheard of, really.

I can’t remember anywhere else where you’ve had three top, top, top players having their contracts run out. If they could keep two of the three, they’ve had the biggest result ever. I thought they’d lose all three of them.

If Trent goes but they can keep Van Dijk and Salah, I think they’ve had the biggest result ever. But for Liverpool to find themselves in that position, as I say, in football, it’s criminal.

‘Man City have to prioritise a Rodri replacement’

Man City probably have to go into the market in January and get someone in because at the moment, I don’t think with the team that they’ve got, they will be fighting for top four.

Their priority has to be defensive midfield, a holding midfield player. Rodri has been majorly missed. I know people go, ‘it’s not just down to him’, but personally, I do. I think it has been down to him. As simple as that.

If you drive a Ferrari or a Rolls Royce and you put diesel in, it’s not going anywhere. It doesn’t matter how good you are, how good the car is and how great it is, if you haven’t got the thing that makes it work inside the engine, it won’t work and it’s proven with Rodri.

They’re so open and the thing with Rodri is he sees danger. How many times do you see Man City getting attacked now and they’re all over the place? It didn’t happen with Rodri.

He ticked it along. Those little five, 10-yard balls through the lines to [Bernardo] Silva, Phil Foden, Kevin De Bruyne, that doesn’t happen now. They’re not getting the ball as quick and when you don’t get the ball as quick, everything closes in.

Those players need time and space and if they do, they will absolutely destroy you. But at the moment, they’re not getting that because the ball is not getting moved through the lines quick enough. The defence are all over the place too, they haven’t got that protection.

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