Arsenal used 25 players in the Premier League last season. Only 22 of those started more a single game or made more than one appearance. Just 19 played over 600 minutes.
With injuries, suspensions, and four competitions to go at, Mikel Arteta was left to push a core group through the pain barrier and out the other side. After expending themselves in the Champions League, Liverpool were never truly within sight for a title challenge domestically.
The job is now over to Andrea Berta to help remedy that. Arteta is aiming to improve on being the second-best but knows it does not come easily or quickly.
Instead, Arsenal are set for another summer revamp. It appears likely to be closer to the levels of activity from 2021 and 2022 rather than the top-ups of 2023 and 2024.
With work to do across the pitch, football.london goes through the positions and how Arsenal are stocked up.
Goalkeepers: Buy some backup
Having gone from two competing No.1s with David Raya and Aaron Ramsdale, Arsenal left themselves a bit short last season. Although Raya stayed fit so there was no disaster, the backup was on-loan Bournemouth veteran Neto and then teenagers.
Raya is not back to being the only senior goalkeeper at the club and that simply cannot continue. Balancing two keepers who both want to play is hard, as Arteta found with Raya and Ramsdale; but being one injury from relying on someone like Neto or those without elite-level experience is not viable.
Tommy Setford and Jack Porter are both highly rated but they need game time in men’s football as well as more exposure in the junior game before being a genuine option for Arteta being Raya. It is no surprise that Joan Garcia has been looked at.
He is cheap, available, and young. The Spaniard is also really good and has a strong game with his feet. If Arsenal were to miss out on him, say to Barcelona, then they would need to find an alternative.
Defenders: Stop spending
Arsenal have so many defensive options capable of playing across the backline that they really do not need anymore. They didn’t really require Riccardo Calafiori last season, especially given how little Arteta looked to use him centrally.
The fitness problems for Ben White have raised questions over how Arsenal move forward, though. Takehiro Tomiyasu has been out of action for almost a year and is not reliable. Jurrien Timber, meanwhile, is covering at full-back on both sides.
The picture is quite unclear, in this regard, and Jakub Kiwior’s sudden move from ‘likely to be sold’ to ‘vitally important’ after Gabriel Magalhaes’ surgery shows just how muddled things have become. Although a first-choice Arsenal defence is still incredibly strong, behind that things are a bit more confused.
They will hope that White can remain fit next season and then Timber can battle out on the right as well as being behind Myles Lewis-Skelly and Calafiori on the left if needed. Arsenal will struggle to attract ready-made quality in the middle as William Saliba and Gabriel are so firmly the guys.
Kiwior’s end-of-season form might have just prolonged his career in north London and it could have saved Arsenal some money in the transfer market as they now don’t seem to need another body in there. Even if Oleksandr Zinchenko leaves, as expected, with Kieran Tierney out of contract, Arsenal surely don’t need more at the back.
Midfielders: Depth needed
If the defence is packed then the midfield might look very light very quickly. Jorginho is set to leave and Thomas Partey might yet follow him. Arsenal have not ruled out agreeing a new deal with the Ghanaian but reports suggest Barcelona are in talks with him already. If that is the case then Arsenal will only have two natural players who it in the pivot.
Lewis-Skelly can operate there as well, it should be said, but that is still a secondary role for him from the start of games. Mikel Merino has also been awkward when used there, creating more problems with Arteta as Declan Rice thrives in the left-sided No.8 spot.
Martin Zubimendi is expected to join and will sit as the starting No.6. That allows Rice the freedom to drive forward. The importance of keeping Partey becomes clear at this stage because otherwise Arsenal will surely have to buy a second midfielder able to provide a strong shield in front of Saliba and Gabriel.
Ethan Nwaneri will be in a better position to ably rotate with Martin Odegaard next season despite only being 18, which is a boost. Arteta knows how costly it can be to rely too much on a small group of players, though, and only having Odegaard, Nwaneri, Zubimendi, Rice, and Merino would be a long way short of filling out the squad.
The decision rests, it seems, on either extending Partey’s stay (which comes with complications due to his age) or going into the market for another similar passing destroyer, of which there aren’t many.
Attackers: Support Saka and go big
It is hard to account for losing your best player for over four months. It is even harder to juggle that with missing the club captain for two months prior and then the only senior striker and starting centre-back either side of it. That is what Arteta had to deal with and explains why Arsenal were unable to sustain their challenge on multiple fronts.
Crucially, Berta will be aware that in attack he is miles off sorting this out. There is debate over the suitability of both Gabriel Martinelli and Leandro Trossard on the left. Trossard, in particular, has always been more of an impact player than a massively effective starter.
Martinelli is still young but lacks the consistency of a top-level winger. His 2022/23 campaign is the outlier so far. The left side has not been the problem for Arsenal, regardless.
Bukayo Saka is so excellent that finding players to join and play second fiddle to him is incredibly tough. Arsenal have simply not managed to take any of the load away from him, though, and it has proven costly.
This summer must bring an end to the reliance on Saka. Whether it is an out-and-out right-winger or a two-way attacker, Arsenal must add at least one wide forward of world-class quality to fight for a position in the team, offering Saka some rest.
Be it Nico Williams for £49million and extortionate wages, Jamie Gittens for a similar price but lower cost and less flair, or Rafael Leao now that Milan are out of the Champions League, something must be done. All three can play on the left or right, which is an advantage. That is probably still not the biggest priority. Through the middle and the situation is clear. Buy a striker.
Arsenal chose against pushing too hard in January – only going for Ollie Watkins, and tentatively at that, late on. They will be getting one here.
Whether it is Viktor Gyokeres (£60million and a massive goalscorer in Portugal with some red flags over the opponents he has produced against) or Benjamin Sesko (reportedly £92.5million with a big ceiling but underlying numbers to be concerned about), Arsenal have to get someone in.
Gyokeres has suddenly gone quiet for Arsenal and is instead linked more with Chelsea. Sesko, meanwhile, is the name hotting up. We know that Berta is keen to lay the groundwork for multiple deals first before finalising targets later, which perhaps explains the plan to some extent. They will also need to make a call on Gabriel Jesus at some point.
The Brazilian is injured and will remain so until the start of next season but even then, his purple patch before the end of January was brief and the exception after 18 months of struggle. He is hardly a staple in the team and Kai Havertz has glaring finishing issues.
The German is hugely valuable for Arsenal but cannot do it all on his own. Havertz needs support and Arsenal need a cold-blooded, clinical striker.
If Leandro Trossard was to leave, and there has been interest in him from the Middle East before, then as well as a massive striker, it would quickly become two wingers on the shopping list. Over to you, then, Mr Berta.
