‘He would go there’: Merson says ‘fantastic’ £60m striker would join Arsenal, even if Gunners miss out on CL

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Paul Merson believes Dominic Calvert-Lewin would be willing to join Arsenal even if the Gunners fail to qualify for the Champions League, but most other top strikers probably won’t.

Mikel Arteta’s men were in the driving seat to finish fourth this season. Champions League qualification was completely in their hands, but two terrible defeats in the space of five days crushed their dreams.

Arsenal’s only chance of securing fourth is if they beat Everton on the final day and Tottenham lose to Norwich. That’s highly unlikely, and Merson believes our missed opportunity could cost us dearly in the summer transfer window.

• £60m Calvert-Lewin became a club hero this week, after reports Arsenal could make bid

Merson says Calvert-Lewin would join CL-less Arsenal

In his column on The Daily Star, Merson writes that Calvert-Lewin is the only top striker who would join Arsenal this summer if they miss out on the Champions League.

He wrote: “Arsenal will have to buy too. But who are they going to get if they’re not in the Champions League?

“Dominic Calvert-Lewin would still go there. But who else?

“Which game-changing world-class (striker) is going to sign for Arsenal without Champions League football? That’s the worry. It was in their hands and they went to Spurs and threw it away. Now it’s in Tottenham’s hands – and if they finish the job it’s going to be very hard to swallow for Arsenal.”

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Arsenal need a huge favour from Norwich City on the final day to pip Tottenham to the fourth spot, but it’s most likely not going to happen. That means Arteta will have to settle for a place in the Europa League next season.

Irrespective of which competition they end up in, Arsenal simply have to sign at least one new striker, if not two. They have been linked with a whole host of names already, including Calvert-Lewin, who wouldn’t be a bad signing at all.

The £60 million-rated Englishman, branded as ‘fantastic‘ by Carlo Ancelotti, could well be the missing piece in Arsenal’s puzzle. He’s fantastic in the air, knows the Premier League very well and has proven he can score goals.

Arsenal have certainly been linked with more attractive names than Calvert-Lewin, but it has to be said that he’d be a very good signing for them.

• Report: Arsenal have been watching Calvert-Lewin for over a year