Arsenal look on course to make a fast start to the summer transfer window as they bid for a big 2025/26 campaign. Mikel Arteta’s side once again went without silverware after finishing second in the Premier League table and also exiting in the semi-finals of both the Champions League and Carabao Cup.
The Gunners have been unable to take that crucial next step when it comes to winning silverware and it is imperative they find a way of doing so or else the trophies they crave will continue to allude them. Strengthening Arteta’s squad is going to be key to that, with Andrea Berta now in position as sporting director and tasked with shaping the future of the club.
Ahead of the new season, Martin Zubimendi looks set to join from Real Sociedad. football.london understands that Arsenal are under the assumption that they’ll successfully secure a deal for the Spain international, who has a release clause in his contract worth €60million (£52.3million).
Arsenal’s search for a new striker could result in long-term target Benjamin Sesko making the move from RB Leipzig. Last week it was reported by transfer expert Fabrizio Romano that the north London club have opened “concrete talks” with the Bundesliga outfit over the Slovenian international.
That should certainly not be the end of the Gunners’ transfer business as Arteta could do with further additions to ensure his team kick on in the 2025/26 season. As ever, once the summer transfer window has come to a close, clubs will have to submit a 25-man playing squad to the Premier League for the first half of the campaign.
Back in February, Arsenal named 22 players in their 25-man squad following the closure of the winter market. Players such as Myles Lewis-Skelly and Ethan Nwaneri were not named in the team’s main squad as they were instead registered as Under-21 players due to their age.
There are rules for all clubs to comply with, most notably the limit of 17 non-homegrown players. Arsenal’s 22-man squad comprised of 15 non-homegrown and seven homegrown players.
In terms of the squad that Arsenal named back in February, a handful of players will depart at the end of June to play their football elsewhere next term. Loan additions Neto and Raheem Sterling will return to their parent clubs, Kieran Tierney and Jorginho will leave at the end of their contracts and Thomas Partey, who has been linked with Barcelona, may do likewise unless he pens a fresh deal at the Emirates Stadium.
Arsenal will have loan players to add to their playing squad come the start of July once their deals at the respective loan clubs have concluded. Nuno Tavares, Fabio Vieira, Reiss Nelson, Albert Sambi Lokonga and Karl Hein are the players in question, although the quintet could quite easily be donning another team’s strip come the start of the 2025/26 campaign.
So, amid the possible arrivals of Zubimendi and Sesko, players leaving and loan players retuning, we have had a look at what Arsenal’s Premier League squad could look like at the start of July.
Arsenal Premier League 25-man squad come July
Goalkeepers: David Raya*, Karl Hein*
Defenders: Takehiro Tomiyasu, Ben White*, Gabriel Magalhaes, William Saliba*, Riccardo Calafiori, Jakub Kiwior, Jurrien Timber, Oleksandr Zinchenko, Nuno Tavares.
Midfielders: Martin Zubimendi, Declan Rice*, Mikel Merino, Martin Odegaard, Reiss Nelson*, Albert Sambi Lokonga, Fabio Vieira.
Attackers: Bukayo Saka*, Gabriel Jesus, Kai Havertz, Gabriel Martinelli*, Leandro Trossard, Benjamin Sesko.
*Homegrown player
Notable players on Under-21 list: Jack Porter, Tommy Setford, Myles Lewis-Skelly, Ethan Nwaneri.
Come the start of July, when the likely arrivals of Zubimendi and Sesko are taken into account, plus the five loan players returning and taking the place of the five departing, Arsenal’s Premier League squad stands at 24 players. Sixteen of those are non-homegrown, meaning they are one under the limit of 17, and the rest of the squad is made up of eight homegrown players.
As players such as Oleksandr Zinchenko, Tavares, Nelson, Lokonga and Vieira could depart between now and the transfer deadline, there will be plenty of space for Berta to work his magic and ensure Arteta has the quality he needs and the final squad also complies with Premier League regulations.
