Mikel Arteta has said he believes Liverpool are the strongest team in the Premier League after signing the “two most decisive players” available in the transfer market.
Liverpool completed their protracted pursuit of Alexander Isak from Newcastle United on deadline day for £125 million ($175m), breaking the British transfer record.
They also spent £100m, plus £16m in add-ons on Florian Wirtz from Bayer Leverkusen.
Asked how Isak’s arrival would change this season’s title race, Arteta said on Friday: “They are the strongest for sure. They have recruited probably the two most decisive players that were in Europe in the market. They’ve done really well to recruit them.
“They were already very strong. I think we need to look at ourselves and what we have to do in terms of our abilities to be better than them, that’s it.”
Arsenal, who lost 1-0 at Liverpool prior to the international break, spent more than £260m on eight new signings with Piero Hincapié — a deadline day loan arrival from Bayer Leverkusen — available to make his debut against Nottingham Forest in Saturday’s clash at the Emirates Stadium.
Bukayo Saka is unavailable as he continues his recovery from a hamstring problem but Ben White and William Saliba are in training ahead of Forest’s visit.
Both Saka and Saliba are engaged in contract talks with the club as their present deals expire in 2027.
Asked for an update, Arteta said: “That never stops but I think the collaboration between the club, what Andrea is doing and the agent is very, very good.
“The good thing is the players want to remain here and they want to be a big part of the history of this club in the next few years. That is always positive. And then, [sporting director] Andrea [Berta] will drive that and see where we are.”
Forest will be managed for the first time by Ange Postecoglou after the ex-Tottenham Hotspur manager replaced Nuno Espirito Santo earlier this week.
“I think with Ange his biggest strength in my opinion is the way he’s been,” Arteta said.
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“He has put his fingerprints in that team, and he has a very clear way of playing, very clear DNA. Extremely good to watch, learned a lot from him, and it will be a very difficult game.”
Forest’s visit will also reunited Edu with his former club.
The Brazilian left his post as Arsenal’s sporting director in November and later joined a global head of football for Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis, who also owns Greek team Olympiakos as well as Portuguese club Rio Ave.
Arteta played down comparisons between Edu and his successor Berta, who has been credited with one of the most dynamic transfer windows in Arsenal’s history.
“I was very happy with Edu,” Arteta said.
“I think Edu did a tremendous job at this club, especially where the club was at the time. When he joined, he was a big part of that transformation of the football club.
“Then he decided to leave and Andrea came in very different circumstances to the club and has done incredible job as well. It’s not necessary to compare when you have two people at that level that are both so good.”
