Mikel Arteta has hinted that Arsenal will be more willing to invest in experienced players this summer, rather than purely focusing on younger options.

Arsenal have done plenty of transfer business in the last year, bringing in seven players over the last two windows for around £150m. Every single one of them was under the age of 24 when they signed.

It’s pretty clear that the club were intentionally investing in the long term, rather than continuing to pursue stop-gap solutions. But that’s set to change this summer.

For a start, Arsenal have already agreed a deal to sign 27-year-old goalkeeper Matt Turner, so that age limit has already been broken.

Mikel Arteta confirms that the priority in certain positions this summer will be finding “the right piece”, even if that means looking at an older acquisition.

“There are certain things that we have to achieve in the summer that are not always especially age-related, but things we want to add to the squad,” Arteta said.

“There are a lot of topics that are very important and we have to find the right piece.

“When we find that player, maybe the top priority won’t be the age in that position. Maybe in another one, yes. So we’ll have to get that right.”

You’d imagine that a new striker would be one of the positions where Arsenal might be willing to sign someone a bit older to immediately improve the team.

With the likelihood that both Eddie Nketiah and Alexandre Lacazette will follow Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang out the door, Arsenal may well need to sign two centre-forwards this summer.

If they brought in one with more experience and one with more potential that could give the squad a good balance.

There’s a long way to go yet until summer, and Arsenal first need to finish the season as strongly as possible to secure funds for their summer business.