Arteta told he's in danger of Wenger mistake by signing Zinchenko and Jesus

The idea of Oleksandr Zinchenko going to Arsenal is one I like.

We all saw what the Ukraine captain did to Scotland in their World Cup play-off this summer. He took a highly emotional game by the scruff of the neck, he was a captain, a leadership figure and he stood up to be counted.

He was the kind of player the Gunners have been crying out for for a long time now, so I can see why fans will be behind their move for him. But I still have reservations, too, because just as I criticised Arsene Wenger's Arsenal for wanting to be Barcelona lite and it not getting them anywhere, now I can see Mikel Arteta's Arsenal becoming Manchester City lite and ending up with the same net result.

I know Arteta will point to the fact that both Gabriel Jesus and Zinchenko are winners. But, let's face it, as good as they are, if you were to pick out five, or even 10, City players who were the driving forces behind all their trophy wins, would either feature?

Most people, if not all, would say they were bit-part players at best and, accordingly, there must have been a reason for Guardiola to use them as sparingly as he did. That might have been because he simply felt he had better players in their positions or he didn't think either could give him the consistency he needed over eight, nine or 10 consecutive games.

Either way, it's not like Arsenal are taking an Ederson or Kevin De Bruyne, or a Kyle Walker or Joao Cancelo. It's not even like they're taking a Riyad Mahrez, who played more regularly for Leicester than he has for City.

In Zinchenko and Jesus, they are taking the best of the rest, and the big question for Arsenal fans is whether or not the two can put out 38 games of high-octane Premier League football in a season to take the club back into the Champions League positions. The trouble with moves like these is that they always look like lazy scouting.

And, of course, it makes me wonder whether or not Arteta and Arsenal could have cast the net a little further into the global market. I know managers live in a bubble — look at the players Erik ten Hag has signed or is trying to sign for Manchester United — so Arteta is not alone.

And no doubt plenty of you will say, 'Come on, Stan, he knows these players, he knows their character, he knows what they can do, so it makes sense he should try to get them if they're available'. But the trouble is it is just playing into the hands of those who always thought he'd try to be Pep lite, which is a shame at a club such as Arsenal because, when they have had real, tangible success, they have had it doing things their own way and not someone else's.

It is on Arteta, then, providing the Zinchenko deal does get over the line, to get the kind of performance he put in against Scotland out of the player on a week-by-week basis. Because if he can do that, then Arsenal will have got their hands on a fantastic player.