‘To me, this is not how major clubs win games’. Arteta’s forwards are unable to convert their chances. Man United icon Wayne Rooney advises Arteta to sign a £70 million player in January or they would not qualify for the Champions League next season.

Arsenal showed the rest of the Premier League what they are capable of by thrashing Crystal Palace 5-0 at the Emirates on Saturday.

After a difficult festive period in which Mikel Arteta’s side lost three of their last five Premier League matches, they responded admirably and rose to third place in the table.

Despite that demolition job, Rooney remains unconvinced by Arsenal’s future prospects, believing they should aim to recruit Brentford’s Ivan Toney, according to BBC Sport.

The Premier League’s all-time greatest goalscorer believes the Brentford striker can help the Gunners reach the ‘next level’ and win the title this season.

However, he expressed reservations that the north London club could sign him midway through the season for such a high fee.

This is not a case of the player refusing to move; in a recent interview with Sky Sports, he did not rule anything out.

As Rooney mentioned, while he believes Ivan Toney is the missing piece, he doubts Arsenal will complete any’major’ acquisitions before the market closes.

Ivan Toney to Arsenal

“Arsenal, in contrast, looked refreshed and full of energy after their winter break and their set-piece routines got them off to the perfect start,” said Shearer.

“They ended up easy winners but having said all that, and seen them score five goals, I still haven’t changed my mind about what the Gunners are missing. They are only two points behind leaders Liverpool despite having a horrible run in the past month, but I still think they need a quality centre-forward to go to that next level, and go on and win the Premier League”