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It’s been a slightly bizarre old time for Arsenal so far this summer, on and off the pitch for the North London outfit.
After another second place finish in the Premier League in what many predicted would have been a season of great promise for the Gunners, the window started with the decision not to renew the contract of 32-year-old midfielder Thomas Partey. On Monday 30th June, it was announced by the club that he would be departing the club after the expiry of his contract; on Friday 4th July, the Ghanian was charged with five counts of rape and one count of sexual assault by the Metropolitan Police. This set the tone for what has been an odd few weeks for Mikel Arteta’s side.
Who’s already arrived?
At the start of the summer transfer window, the club went on to confirm the departures of Kieran Tierney and Jorginho after their contracts also expired (with the pair joining Celtic and Flamengo respectively), with Brazilian shot stopper Neto returning to Bournemouth. This led the Gunners to complete their first summer incoming with Kepa Arrizabalaga joining from Chelsea for just £5m. After a brilliant season with Bournemouth where he helped the south coast side to a 9th place finish, the 30-year-old will be a safe pair of hands behind David Raya ahead of another season where Arsenal will be expected to compete across all four major competitions they’re a part of.
More Spaniards would join the club soon after though as the club finally confirmed the signing of Real Sociedad midfielder Martin Zubimendi. Mikel Arteta is well aware of La Txuri-Urdin after spending a season there in 2004 and signing the likes of Mikel Merino from them, as well as snapping Martin Ødegaard up after he spent a year there on loan in the 2019/20 campaign. Such strong ties to the club led them to push for Zubimendi, who rejected the opportunity to join Liverpool last summer.
At the age of 26, Zubimendi will offer control and steel to the Arsenal midfield Partey and Jorginho will leave behind. After being compared to the likes of Xabi Alonso and Sergio Busquets during his time in Spain, there are certainly resemblances in his game to the aforementioned midfielders, with sharp game-reading capabilities that helped him average 1.31 interceptions and 2.65 clearances per 90 last season.
The Sociedad academy graduate also boasts an excellent passing range that will make him an almost perfect fit for Mikel Arteta’s midfield. Last season, he ranked 4th for line-breaking passes in La Liga and played 31% of his passes into forward positions, more than the likes of Kevin De Bruyne, Ryan Gravenberch and Enzo Fernandez. Statistics like this in his ball progression and his defensive capabilities make this signing seem like a great one on paper, despite the hefty €70M price tag, Sociedad’s joint record departure according to Transfermarkt.
Also joining Arsenal’s ranks is experienced Danish midfielder Christian Nørgaard from Brentford. With 122 Premier League appearances, the 31-year-old is a smart acquisition that not only fills a void Jorginho left when he departed for Flamengo after his contract expiry, but is a straight upgrade on the Italian. Last season Nørgaard was one of Brentford’s most reliable players, starting 34 of 38 Premier League games averaging 1.56 interceptions per 90, ranking in the 10% of midfielders in Europe in that area.
With an excellent ability to read the game and break up play, Nørgaard is a smart pick up for Mikel Arteta’s side despite the former Fiorentina midfielder turning 31 in March.
Who’s about to arrive?
Despite three incomings so far, last season’s second-placed side are still far from done in the window, and seem to have many new faces on the way. The next player destined to play at the Emirates seems to be Valencia defender Cristhian Mosquera. Standing at six foot two and an imposing physical frame, Mosquera continued to build from his breakout campaign in 2023/24 last season, starting 37 games for Valencia in another middling season for the side from Eastern Spain.
For a package worth €20m with €15m guaranteed to Los Che immediately, this is another decent play from Andrea Berta for a brilliantly talented young defender. Though still quite a raw talent that can lead him into rash defensive decisions, which led him to concede three penalties last season and rank second for penalties conceded in La Liga last season, for such a low price and such a high ceiling on the player it feels like a gamble worth taking. With William Saliba and Gabriel ahead of him too, allowing him to play understudy to one of Europe’s best defensive partnerships will certainly help him embed into Arsenal’s ranks comfortably.
The most high profile move for the North London side is certainly the impending arrival of Swedish striker Viktor Gyökeres, where a deal in the region of €63.5M with €10M in add-ons set to be completed. The positives of the move see Arsenal finally land a prolific, out-and-out number nine that can lead the line, rather than a more makeshift false nine that Kai Havertz and Gabriel Jesus have had to perform in recent seasons where Mikel Arteta’s side have challenged for the Premier League title. For a player with such immense output too, with 125 goals and assists in 102 games for the Portuguese outfit, what could rise to almost €75M is a very good price for the 27-year-old.
However, there may be a couple of causes for concern with just how Gyökeres will adapt to Arsenal’s system. This won’t be the Swede’s first crack at English football. After breaking through at IF Brommapojkarna in Sweden, Brighton snapped up the then 20-year-old for a reported €1M. After spending some time in their youth set up, loan spells to St Pauli, Swansea City and Coventry City ensued, where he failed to impress enough to ever get a proper look in for Brighton’s first team. This meant when he left for Coventry on a permanent deal in the summer of 2021, he failed to make anymore than 10 appearances for the Seagull’s, playing eight games and notching a goal and an assist during his brief stint.
Though his time at Coventry was a success, where he played 143 times and contributed 60 goals and assists to earn himself a move to Portugal in the first place, how he’ll be able to adapt to a top end Premier League side rather than a play off side in the Championship is a point for concern despite how much he progressed under Ruben Amorim and Rui Borges during his time in the Portuguese capital.
Sporting play a much different brand of football to Arsenal, and having to adapt to a new system could be a challenge as it won’t play to his natural strengths as much. Sporting are a side that play on the counter, happy to play on the back foot for lots of periods throughout games before winning the ball and breaking immediately with flying full backs and the likes of Francisco Trincão and Chelsea-bound Geovany Quenda on the wings to support him.
Alternatively, Arsenal are a side that dominate possession that use its wingers to stretch their position by having them hang on the touchline and take players on one-on-one like Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli. Gyökeres will have to rely on his instinct, game reading and clinicality to be the striker Arsenal need him to be, but the first two have seldom been seen due to the nature of offensive football Sporting have played under Amorim, whom he spent most of his time with at Sporting. Though many have argued the other way around throughout last season, it may prove to be the case that Havertz’s technical skill and ability to link the play between midfield and the front lines almost as a false nine may be the hidden cog to Arsenal’s attack that made them the third highest scoring side in the league last season.
Ultimately, most will probably be optimistic with the Swede’s arrival in the Premier League, but there may be more than one may realise as part of his adaptation to the biggest and best league in world football.
It also seems likely that Chelsea winger Noni Madueke will be en route to the club this summer, which is undoubtably the move with the most question marks around it for the Gunners. Since joining in January 2023 in what was a very hectic window for the Blues, Madueke has been an interesting player to watch since he arrived in the Premier League, whilst contributing 29 goals and assists in 92 games for Chelsea during his time there.
This season, he contributed 15 goals and assists to help Enzo Maresca’s side to a return to the Champions League and victory in the Club World Cup and UEFA Conference League. However, Madueke was often a frustrating player to watch, with often lacklustre end product in the final third and a work ethic which left lots to be desired. He averaged 1.99 successful take ons per 90, ranking him in the top 24% of wingers in Europe, a fairly middling percentile which reflects his often tame performances on the right-hand side for Chelsea.
Despite the short fallings in his game still, the former PSV winger seems set to join for £52M to operate on both flanks and potentially replace Gabriel Martinelli as rumours about a potential move to Saudi Arabia continue to persist. If he is the choice to replace the Brazilian, it could certainly be seen as a strange one given his inexperience playing off the left and given how many other more naturally left-sided players or other wingers are on the market. All signs seem to indicate that Rodrygo of Real Madrid could leave the club this summer, as Xabi Alonso figures out how to fit so many Galácticos in one side. If such an immensely talented winger is on the market for a reasonable price, a move for a player of his calibre seems like a much smarter use of resources on paper.
The final verdict
There’s still a lot of time before the Premier League season starts, where Arsenal kick off their campaign at Old Trafford against Manchester United, before taking on Leeds, Liverpool, Forest and Manchester City to complete their opening five. That means there’s plenty of time to invest in many more players, as rumours around the likes of Eberchi Eze and the aforementioned Rodrygo, either of which would be tremendous additions to the squad.
It also seems more likely now that 18-year-old starlet Ethan Nwaneri will put pen to paper on a new long-term contract, despite rumours of an exit over concerns of his playing time and a clear pathway into the team with Bukayo Saka and Martin Ødegaard dominating his best positions. This too will give Arsenal more reason to be positive about their transfer window.
While Gyökeres may not immediately take to a new league (despite many expecting him to and hence won’t afford him the time, as the footballing world so often does) and the acquisition of Noni Madueke will raise eyebrows and rightfully come with questioning, the smart moves early on on top of the highly talented squad they already had could make this a window something to be positive about rather than one to frown upon.
