Dion Dublin has told Football Focus that Arsenal should’ve dealt with their defensive issues this summer, rather than spending on a striker.

Dion told the BBC programme on Saturday: “We have spoken about Arsenal’s soft underbelly for years but it hasn’t been dealt with. That is where Arsenal has gone wrong. Deal with your serious problems.

“Don’t keep adding players that make you look good and play the way you play anyway. It’s just defending at the end of the day.”

Arsenal did spend big to address defensive issues in the previous summer transfer window, bringing in Shkodran Mustafi for a club-record £35m in terms of defenders. However, you could argue that this is the kind of player that Dublin is warning against, a defender who is good on the ball but not particularly physically imposing.

This summer, Arsenal did bring in physically imposing defender, in Sead Kolašinac, but although he hasn’t yet made a single competitive appearance at wing-back, this is likely where he’ll end up, meaning he doesn’t completely fill the gap in central defence either.

Although it’s a cliché and not the most insightful punditry to talk about Arsenal’s ‘soft underbelly’, unfortunately it does continue to be played out in reality. Arsenal haven’t yet kept a clean sheet in three competitive matches, conceded a ridiculous three goals to Leicester and another one to Stoke that saw the Gunners drop all three points.

If Arsenal want to prove Dublin wrong and show that the right players are already at the club, then they have some work to do.