GARY NEVILLE has made a bold claim over Mikel Arteta following the flop signing of Raheem Sterling.The Arsenal manager brought in the forward on deadline day last summer to bolster his frontline.AFPGary Neville has made a bold claim over Arsenal’s Mikel Arteta[/caption]PANeville claims that Arteta was the main voice behind signing Raheem Sterling[/caption]GettyHe has only played 307 minutes in the Premier League this season[/caption]PAArsenal are without a striker following injury to Kai Havertz[/caption]Sterling, 30, joined the club on loan from Chelsea but has failed to make a notable impression in North London.It was hoped that he would provide quality support and competition to stars such as Bukayo Saka, Leandro Trossard and Kai Havertz.However, Sterling has failed to score in all 12 of his Premier League outings for the club.He has only provided one assist in the league and has netted just once, which came in the 5-1 win over Bolton in the EFL Cup.His struggles on the pitch have seen him get just 844 minutes of playing time this season.Former Manchester United defender Neville has suggested that Sterling was wanted by Arteta.And the eight-time Premier League winner believes that the Spaniard’s failed signing has damaged the board’s trust in him.Neville even claimed that it may have “put off” the club making a move for a striker in January – which they desperately needed.CASINO SPECIAL – BEST CASINO BONUSES FROM £10 DEPOSITSSpeaking on The Overlap with Sky Bet, he said: “Do you know what I think they’ve done? In the last part of the summer transfer window, I’m not sure Arsenal wanted to sign Raheem Sterling.“I’m not sure Arsenal, as a club, wanted him. ReutersBenjamin Sesko was heavily linked a move to with North London[/caption]GettyAlexander Isak was also a top target for Arsenal[/caption]“I think Arteta’s thought Sterling can play in all the positions up top and has basically told the club to get him in as cover.“I think that’s what he said.“He can play across the frontline so Arteta has looked at him as his second or third striker.“They’ve ended up backing him and I think that’s put them off doing another deal in January of the same ilk because they’re thinking ‘we brought Sterling in and Arteta hasn’t really used him’.”Arsenal were heavily linked with the likes of Ollie Watkins, Benjamin Sesko and Alexander Isak.However, the club opted not to seal a deal for any of the options and put their title hopes in Havertz.The support for the German backfired immediately as he suffered a season-ending injury during Arsenal’s warm-weather training camp.This paired with Gabriel Jesus’ ACL injury has left Arteta without a senior striker in his squad.In recent games, the manager has had to rely on playing midfielder Mikel Merino upfront.He made an instant positive impact with two goals in the role against Leicester City.But since then he and the rest of the team have drawn blanks in the defeat to West Ham and goalless draw with Nottingham Forest.Forest boss Nuno Espirito Santo picked up on Arsenal’s lack of firepower.Nuno admitted that he did not feel the need to play a back five against the Gunners due to their lack of a striker.Arteta admitted after the draw to Forest that he is trying to adapt the team to have more threat.He said: “We tried and adapted the quality that we have, how we can help the team to create different things.“To have threats from different qualities, probably they are not about arriving in the box and creating some magic moments, they are other kind of players.“Try to adapt to that and do the best that we can.”Sterling was called upon against Forest as he replaced Ethan Nwaneri in the closing stages.The former Manchester City and Liverpool star only managed six touches and did not muster a single shot.Title rivals Liverpool have taken full advantage of the misfiring Gunners with back-to-back wins.The Reds beat Manchester City and Newcastle United to extend their lead at the top of the table to 13 points.Arsenal ratings vs Forest as NOBODY looks like scoring for Gunners but Saliba's a Rolls Royce againMIKEL ARTETA may not have anyone to put the ball in the back of the net but in William Saliba he has one of the best defenders in the Prem.The Arsenal boss watched his side’s faint title hopes go well and truly up in smoke in the goalless draw with Nottingham Forest.But his brilliant backline emerged, once again, with credit from this tricky clash at the City Ground.Together with Gabriel, Saliba kept a tight lid on Forest dangerman Chris Wood, who scored a hat-trick in his last appearance on this ground.But the fact the Gunners’ biggest threat at the other end of the pitch came from left-back Riccardo Calafiori – who was subbed off at half-time – says it all about the dire situation Arsenal somehow find themselves in.Here is how SunSport’s Graeme Bryce rated the Gunners stars’ displays…