Arsenal MUST spend this month, insists Ian Wright - as Gunners legend claims Mikel Arteta 'needs help' from the board after Newcastle defeat

Ian Wright has urged Arsenal's board to back Mikel Arteta in the January transfer window in order to save their season.

The Gunners suffered a disappointing 2-0 defeat by Newcastle in the first leg of their Carabao Cup semi-final at the Emirates on Tuesday night.

Arsenal dominated much of the game and although Kai Havertz and Gabriel Martinelli missed big chances, they struggled to break Newcastle down and often looked toothless in attack.

Arteta's side are currently missing star man Bukayo Saka with a hamstring injury, while club captain Martin Odegaard has struggled for form over recent weeks.

The past month has also seen the Gunners drop points against Fulham, Everton and Brighton to fall behind in the Premier League title race - and their attacking struggles have been thrown into the spotlight.

And, speaking after the Newcastle clash, Arsenal legend Wright insisted the club will continue to face problems for the rest of the season unless they spend in January.

Ian Wright has urged Arsenal's board to back Mikel Arteta in the January transfer window

The Gunners struggled to create chances during their 2-0 Carabao Cup defeat by Newcastle

Wright insisted that Arteta 'needs help' from the board if he is to save Arsenal's season

'You've got to look at the board now,' the former Gunners striker told ITV. 'I don't know what you do but you've got to try and do something.'

'Listening to (Newcastle star) Anthony Gordon. Once they go deep Newcastle, they feel there's not going to be enough that's going to breach them apart from what we saw with Martinelli and we didn't see that often enough.

'He (Arteta) needs help. I know it's very difficult to get anything in this January window but he needs something else because if it's gonna carry on like this, it's going to be very difficult to score.

'We're not scoring with the corners, we're not scoring with the chances we're making, something needs to change. Something needs to happen...'

Wright's comments come despite Arsenal's heavy spending in relation to their rivals since Arteta was appointed in 2019.

The Spaniard has signed 30 players during his tenure for a total outlay of £714million, with this coming in at a £500.14m net spend, according to data from Football Transfers.

In comparison, Man City's net spend is only £59.75m in that same period.

However, the problem may arise with the distribution of Arsenal's spending.

Arsenal are struggling for creativity in the absence of Bukayo Saka due to a hamstring issue

Wright insisted 'something needs to happen' this month for Arsenal to solve their woes

The Gunners dominated much of the Newcastle game but were also wasteful in front of goal

Arteta has splashed £299.2m on defenders and £275.4m on midfielders over the past five years, but only £140m has been spent on attackers, with that figure including the £65m addition of Kai Havertz in the summer of 2023.

Nevertheless, Les Ferdinand, who was working alongside Wright for ITV, echoed his colleague's thoughts and felt that Arsenal's play was too slow against Newcastle.

'Yeah I mean the chance they had with Gabriel Martinelli going through, I thought that was their best option,' he added.

'But to do that they needed to move ball quicker and have runners but they just looked like they were struggling for an answer tonight.'

It remains to be seen whether Arsenal will enter the market this month - particularly with Saka's absence - although both Leandro Trossard and Martin Odegaard did join during the winter window in previous years.

They will hope to overturn the 2-0 deficit in the second leg of the semi-final next month, while Arteta's side are currently six points adrift of Liverpool in the Premier League title race, although the Reds do have a game in hand.

Arsenal return to action on Sunday when they host Man United in the FA Cup third round.

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