The Gunners are spending big to try and close the gap on Manchester City – and there will be no hiding place if they fail
Arsenal were the surprise package of the 2022-23 season, there’s no doubt about that. Mikel Arteta could only deliver a fifth-place finish the previous year, and no one expected them to go on and challenge for the Premier League title.
But after their best-ever start to a top-flight campaign, the Gunners got themselves into a great position to dethrone Manchester City, only to choke when it really mattered. After beating Leeds 4-1 at the Emirates Stadium on April 1, Arteta’s side were sat eight points clear at the summit – albeit having played a game more than the champions. But they followed that result up with three successive draws, before being hammered by City away from home, and their dreams went up in smoke. Arsenal spent 248 days at the top of the table before their collapse – the most of any side in Premier League history to fail to lift the trophy.
“To this day, it still hurts me deeply, not having won the Premier League after spending 10 months fighting with City,” Arteta said in an interview with Spanish outlet Marca in June. “But that’s the sport. That said, what has been achieved with such a young team is worthwhile. That is clear to me too.”
The Spanish head coach is right to try and focus on the positives. Arsenal have come a long way in a short space of time and the future looks bright. But another trophyless season won’t be acceptable next term, especially after the way the club have gone about their business in the summer transfer window so far.
The holy trinity
Arsenal have moved quickly to strengthen their squad, starting with the addition of Germany forward Kai Havertz. Chelsea sanctioned the 24-year-old’s sale to their London rivals for £65m ($82m), posting a small loss on their initial £72m ($91m) investment in his talents three years earlier.
In truth, the Blues did very well to get such a handsome fee for Havertz, who largely flattered to deceive during his time at Stamford Bridge. He scored memorable winning goals in the 2021 Champions League and 2022 Club World Cup finals, but never really delivered on a consistent basis.
Arteta is confident that he’s signed a diamond, though. “Kai is a player of top quality,” he said after the deal with Chelsea was confirmed. “He has great versatility and is an intelligent player. He will bring a huge amount of extra strength to our midfield and variety to our play.”
Havertz will likely slot in on the left of Arsenal’s midfield three, as a replacement for the outgoing Granit Xhaka, and it’s almost a certainty that he will have Declan Rice playing next to him, with the West Ham star now on the verge of sealing a British-record £105m ($133m) move to the Emirates. It has been reported that Thomas Partey will also be leaving Arsenal this summer, meaning Rice will slot straight into the heart of Arteta’s line up.
Forking out a nine-figure sum for a defensive midfielder that has yet to play at the highest level of the club game is a risk. It remains to be seen whether Rice will be a transformative addition to Arteta’s ranks, but it should at least be an easy transition to north London for him given the presence of his England team-mates Bukayo Saka, Aaron Ramsdale, Ben White and Emile Smith Rowe.
Arsenal will then take their summer outlay past the £200m ($253m) mark with the acquisition of Ajax defender Jurrien Timber, who has reportedly agreed personal terms ahead of a £40m ($51m) switch. It’s not immediately clear where Arteta will look to deploy the Dutchman, though.
Timber is unlikely to dislodge William Saliba in the heart of the Gunners’ backline, but he is also versatile enough to slot in at right-back, perhaps ahead of both White and Takehiro Tomiyasu. For the money that Arsenal are spending on the 22-year-old, it would be a waste if he were to just take up a back-up role.
The Gunners are banking on all three players becoming vital cogs in Arteta’s system. And if any of them fall short of expectations, the Spanish tactician will face some uncomfortable questions.
Title race experience
“When we had the full team, we were consistent,” Arteta added to Marca when discussing Arsenal’s failed title bid. “As soon as problems came, we couldn’t be consistent. And then our rival was the best team in the world; the best squad in the world; the best coach in the world… We had no choice but to accept it and shake hands with the champion.”
It’s true that Arsenal had bad luck with injuries. Saliba sustained a season-ending back issue in March, and Rob Holding couldn’t match the Frenchman’s high standards after coming in to fill his position. Gabriel Jesus, Eddie Nketiah, Oleksandr Zinchenko, Tomiyasu and Elneny also missed large portions of the season as the Gunners’ squad depth was tested to the limit. An overall lack of experience in the dressing room was a limiting factor, too.
Arteta attempted to instil a winning mentality by signing Jesus and Zinchenko last summer, having worked with the pair during his time as Pep Guardiola’s assistant at Manchester City. They made a huge impact initially, but couldn’t carry Arsenal over the finishing line.
The likes of Saka, Gabriel Martinelli, Partey, Xhaka and Gabriel Magalhaes all allowed their levels to dip down the final straight, most notably during the Gunners’ 4-1 loss to City at the Etihad Stadium. They weren’t ready for the rigorous demands of an end-of-season title run-in.
But they should be next time. Arsenal’s younger players could end up being far stronger after experiencing the heartbreak that comes after giving so much for no reward. “Time is on our side. You can look at our team and a lot of the players are young,” Saka said in a sit-down with Gunners legend Ian Wright at the end of May. “We’re hungry, and a lot of us haven’t won trophies at Arsenal so we want to achieve big things. If you watch the way we all speak, we want to win and we want to win here.”
No more Thursday nights
Arsenal’s rise to the top of the Premier League was made all the more remarkable by the fact they were competing in the Europa League until mid-March. This meant that they only had two full days to recover for Premier League games after their European exertions on Thursdays.
Arteta’s side coped with the rigorous fixture schedule admirably in the first half of the season, but they were beginning to run out of steam physically by the time they faced Sporting CP in the last 16. The Gunners earned a hard-fought 2-2 draw in the first leg of the tie at the José Alvalade Stadium, but couldn’t finish the job at the Emirates.
The two teams were locked level at 1-1 after 120 minutes of the second leg, and penalties were needed to decide who made it through to the quarter-finals. Sporting held their nerve to win the shootout 5-3, and Arsenal looked absolutely shattered to a man by the time it was all over, and the wheels then inevitably came off for the Gunners in the Premier League over the next few weeks. Juggling European and domestic commitments eventually took its toll.
Arsenal will face a similar task in 2023-24 when they return to the Champions League after a six-year absence, but the turnaround between matches will be easier to manage. Europe’s elite competition is staged on Tuesday and Wednesday nights, which will give the Gunners plenty of time to regroup for their bread-and-butter duties in the English top flight.
Ramsdale is among those relishing the opportunity to test himself against the best. “We want to go and fight properly in the Champions League next season and every passing year is an experience for us to get better.” the Arsenal goalkeeper recently told The Telegraph. “A new pressure will now come.”
How the Gunners handle that pressure will dictate whether or not they reach a higher level as a collective in 2023-24.
Key men staying put
Arsenal have taken all the necessary steps to ensure that the core of their current squad remains intact for years to come. Gabriel was first to commit his long-term future to the club last October, as he signed an extension that will keep him in north London until 2027. Martinelli agreed to the same extension in February, while Ramsdale accepted a three-year renewal in May, shortly before Saka also signed a new four-year deal. Tying down Saliba is the next priority for Arsenal, with the France international’s current contract due to expire in 2024. Saliba has already agreed to remain at the club for an extra three years, and an official announcement is due before the start of pre-season.
Current Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard is also reportedly set for talks over a new deal. The Norwegian is under contract until 2025 as it stands, and the Gunners have a one-year extension option, but they are eager to secure his services through to 2030. And Odegaard is certainly buying into Arteta’s long-term vision.
“There are no limits on what we can achieve. No one can tell me otherwise,” he told the Players’ Tribune at the start of the year. “I’m so proud to be captain of this club and I feel like I’m going to be here a long time.”
Arteta has done everything within his power to limit the risk of any potential suitors luring away his best players, and he will continue to do so. Continuity in terms of personnel will be crucial if Arsenal are to build on the foundations they put down in 2022-23.
But the Gunners’ faith in these players will only be properly justified if the silverware begins to roll in over the next few years. The long-term contracts will be scrutinized in great detail if the likes of Saka and Gabriel go missing when it really matters again. READ MORE
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