United icon highlights two reasons why Arsenal won’t win Champions League

Arsenal will begin their UEFA Champions League adventure with a clash against Atalanta on Thursday night but United icon Owen Hargreaves believes Mikel Arteta’s side can’t win the tournament.

The Gunners are back in Europe’s premier club competition for a second successive season after a seven-year absence, and are amongst the favourite due to their impressive form in the Premier League.

However, despite grinding positive results in the Premier League, Hargreaves believes Arteta’s side still have a lot to learn when it comes to success on the continent.

‘I don’t know if it’s naivety but I think they’re pretty inexperienced at that level,’ Hargreaves told Metro.co.uk ahead of the Champions League’s return on TNT Sports.

‘I can’t think of many who had been there before last season – Jorginho was probably one of the few guys, Gabriel Jesus but he was a squad player at City – so I think it takes time.

‘You saw that in those Bayern games, and Bayern were struggling at that point but were probably worthy winners over the two legs. So I think it takes a bit of time.’

Mikel Arteta celebrates with Arsenal after winning the Premier League match against Tottenham Hotspur (Photo by Nigel French/Sportsphoto/Allstar via Getty Images)

Arsenal during the summer brought in Raheem Sterling on loan from Chelsea but there are concerns they still don’t boost the squad depth needed to compete.

Kai Havertz has impressed under the burden of responsibility so far, but Hargreaves isn’t certain the German’s exploits will be enough on his own in the Champions League.

‘Raheem Sterling on loan is quite interesting because he gives them experiences and extra depth to give them somebody who’s kind of been there in those games and understands what it takes,’ he added.

‘Kai Havertz has done an amazing job as a striker but I’m maybe slightly surprised that they didn’t add one other player to help out.

‘We’ve seen it’s hard [to win the Champions League] – look at Paris Saint-Germain who have invested billions and haven’t been able to win.

‘I do think that Arsenal are going up – they’ll win trophies. But the competition gets fiercer every year and that lack of depth could cost them.’