The One
In many ways, Bukayo Saka is The One for Arsenal fans. Born and raised in London, Saka has been part of the club for more than 15 years, ever since he joined Gunners’ famous Hale End academy at the age of eight in 2010. He evolved into one of the finest right wingers in world football, and, despite numerous big-money additions in recent years, the 23-year-old Englishman is still North London club’s biggest star. However, following the end of Kieran Tierney’s contract and Reiss Nelson’s imminent departure this summer, Bukayo Saka is also the one player featured in the matchday squad of Arsenal’s last major title win, the 2020 FA Cup final, still at the club.
Just over five years after that joyous August afternoon at the empty Wembley, Bukayo Saka, who didn’t even come off the bench on the day, and Mikel Arteta are essentially the only thing today’s Arsenal has in common with the club that Gunners were when they lifted their record-extending 14th FA Cup. Players, assistant coaches, even sporting directors have come and gone, with less and less of the faces who tasted the feeling of winning silverware remaining in the red side of North London. This season, it’s high time that changes.
Optimism returns, drought ensues
In 2022/23, early domestic cup exits and going out of the Europa League in Round of 16 could have been put aside when the youthful Arsenal team surprisingly stayed in the title race until early May and finished just five points off Manchester City in the second place of the Premier League table. A season later, they made a step forward, only missing out on the Premier League title on the final day in addition to reaching the Champions League quarterfinals. Even last season, although their injury-depleted squad failed to keep up with Liverpool’s brilliant league form, the magical display against Real Madrid across the two legs of the Champions League quarterfinal meant there was a feeling of success among Arsenal fans despite not adding to the trophy cabinet.
In 2025/26, there are no excuses. There simply isn’t a scenario in which Mikel Arteta’s side could end another campaign empty-handed without it being considered a failure. The EFL Cup and the FA Cup would be an excellent start, but the fans’ (and the teams’) focus will be on the big ones – Premier League and the Champions League. And after a fruitful summer, last season’s injury woes shouldn’t pose that much of a problem either.
Rock-solid at the back
When Andrea Berta assumed the position of Arsenal’s sporting director in March, strengthening the defence surely wasn’t atop his list for this summer. In David Raya, they have a winner of each of the last two Premier League Golden Glove awards. He makes up a back five which was the best defence in the division in each of the last two seasons, with Gunners conceding 15 league goals fewer (63) than any other PL side since the start of the 2023/24 campaign.
Their centre-back partnership of Gabriel and William Saliba is one of the finest defensive duos on the planet. At right-back, Jurriën Timber and Ben White are both a fantastic weapon to have, as the only thing stopping them from shining even brighter over the last two seasons were injuries of the other man (Timber tore his ACL on the opening day of the 2023/24 campaign, while White struggled with knee issues for most of last season), which meant the other had to be run into the ground. At left-back, the emergence of the remarkably talented 18-year-old Myles Lewis-Skelly, who signed a new contract in June, as well as last summer’s addition of Riccardo Calafiori has rendered Oleksandr Zinchenko practically useless, despite Mikel Arteta once stating the Ukrainian has ‘changed Arsenal’s world’ when he arrived.
Even with such a strong defence, Arsenal managed to pull off one of the most underrated signings of the summer to further strengthen their back line. They took advantage of Cristhian Mosquera’s contract situation at Valencia (had just one year left on his deal) and signed the talented 21-year-old Spaniard for just €15 million. That means they finally have the right-footed centre-back capable of backing up Wiliam Saliba they’ve been searching for the past several seasons. Jakub Kiwior, who started both of their wins over Real Madrid in April, rounds off an impressive eight-man defensive rotation that towers above any other of the 19 defensive units in the Premier League.
Changes in midfield
With Jorginho and Thomas Partey both reaching the end of their Arsenal contracts this summer, Andrea Berta and Mikel Arteta knew in advance that the base of the Gunners’ midfield would look quite different in 2025/26. That meant they acted quickly, as by July 10 both Martín Zubimendi and Christian Nørgaard walked through the door of Arsenal’s training ground. In the 26-year-old Spaniard, Arsenal signed one of the most coveted midfielders in the world, who was quite close to joining Liverpool last summer before, according to reports, Mikel Arteta urged him to reconsider and wait a year before moving to London. In the 31-year-old Dane, on the other hand, Gunners welcome a player with 122 Premier League appearances to his name, but also a player who will accept his role as a back-up in by far the biggest club of his career, after stints at HSV, Brøndby IF, Fiorentina and Brentford.
The rest of Arsenal’s midfield remains unchanged. The other two positions in the starting lineup will, most of the time, be occupied by Declan Rice, now a full-time left-sided no. 8, and the club captain, Martin Ødegaard. Now in his third campaign with the North London outfit, Rice will be hoping to build on his first full preseason at the club and continue to produce performances (and free-kicks!) that have already made him one of the fan favourites. Ødegaard will hope an injury-free campaign awaits, as an ankle injury kept him away from the team for more than two months last autumn and impacted most of his campaign, given he was rushed back due to a lack of alternatives in the squad.
This time, Ødegaard’s backup is a year more experienced, a year older and has signed a new contract this summer. Ethan Nwaneri will be looking to battle with his captain for playing time, as at the age of 18 he will feel his time is now. After all, with only four Arsenal players scoring more goals than his nine last season, if he continues to improve in the same fashion, Mikel Arteta will have a true selection headache on his hands. On the left, Mikel Merino is set for a midfield role in 2025/26, after playing as an auxiliary no. 9 since February, and will hope to at least provide Declan Rice with a bit of rest from time to time. Also, it shouldn’t be a major surprise seeing Kai Havertz occasionally occupy one of the no. 8 positions, given the new look of the Gunners’ attack.
A masked Gunner in attack
After several years of waiting, Mikel Arteta has finally got himself a new no. 9. Negotiations have been protracted, as Sporting eventually accepted Arsenal’s bid worth up to €73 million, and Viktor Gyökeres has arrived in London to slot right into the central role of the Gunners’ front line. His goalscoring record in Portugal speaks for itself (97 goals in 102 appearances), and even though plenty have accused him of only finding the net against minnows, data tells a different story.
However, Kai Havertz should not be immediately written off. While out with a hamstring injury, he underwent a physical transformation, and now looks much stronger and more capable of wrestling with strong Premier League defenders. Having in mind Mikel Arteta values his off-the-ball work highly, and Havertz will surely get his fair share of minutes this season, be it ahead of Gyökeres, or in one of the no. 8 positions. The battle for Arsenal’s no. 9 position will be even more interesting when winters starts and Gabriel Jesus returns from his ACL injury, even though it needs to be seen if the Brazilian’s form can return to the glory days of his first few months in the Gunners’ shirt.
Right wing is a position about which there isn’t much discussion when it comes to first choice for several seasons now. However, this season Bukayo Saka should finally have some healthy competition, and a chance to get some rest on occasion. Last season, Ethan Nwaneri and Raheem Sterling were his only real covers, and even then Nwaneri had to provide support to Martin Ødegaard at the same time. This summer, somewhat surprisingly, leading figures at Arsenal jumped at the chance to make another signing from Chelsea, bringing in Noni Madueke for €55 million. The 23-year-old Englishman is capable of playing on both wings, and will surely be able to carry some of the burdain that laid on Saka’s shoulders for so long. Behind them, don’t be surprised to see some minutes given to 15-year-old Max Dowman, after he impressed in preseason.
Finally, there is the left wing conundrum. With Gabriel Martinelli and Leandro Trossard, there hasn’t been much change in that area ever since the Belgian signed for Arsenal in January 2023. While Martinelli doesn’t seem capable of replicating his breakout 2022/23 season (15 Premier League goals), Trossard, Gunners’ third-best goalscorer of the last two campaigns behind Havertz and Saka, has been a capable rotation option. However, his form faded away towards the end of the season, as Mikel Arteta opted for Martinelli in marquee clashes against PSG and Real Madrid, while Trossard couldn’t even grab hold of the vacant no. 9 position ahead of Mikel Merino when it mattered most.
There has also been talk of Trossard potentially leaving the club this summer, which, alongside the arrival of left-footed Noni Madueke who, as preseason showed, will also be seen as an option on the left, makes the left wing position the biggest question mark in Mikel Arteta’s squad at the start of 2025/26. There are even rumours swirling around that Arsenal are looking at adding another big-name winger to their squad, but that will surely only happen in case at least one of the above-mentioned players leaves the club. At the start of the season at least, the position should be Martinelli’s to lose.
Competition
Arsenal improved their squad depth this summer, and on paper they look a better team than last season, but that doesn’t mean their rivals stayed firm. On the contrary, there’s an argument that Gunners didn’t do nearly enough as some of the other Premier League sides when it comes to levelling up their starting XI.
Liverpool didn’t bask in their title-winning glory for long, as they spent close to €300 million on Florian Wirtz, Hugo Ekitiké, Miloš Kerkez and Jeremie Frimpong, while waving goodbye to Darwin Núñez, Luis Díaz, Trent-Alexander Arnold, Jarell Quansah, and tragically, Diogo Jota. The Reds are also not done yet, with recent reports linking them to several centre-backs, as well as the biggest name potentially on the move this summer, Alexander Isak. If they manage to wrestle the Swede out of Newcastle, they immediately become the main favourite for all trophies on offer, as that attacking force just can’t be matched by any other team on the continent.
Don’t forget that Sofascore’s Premier League Player of the Season, Mohamed Salah, is still on their books and ready to kick on from his remarkable 29-goal and 18-assist campaign in 2024/25. Questions will be posed about Liverpool’s midfield depth, but Arne Slot will certainly have a lot to work with to build on his outstanding first season with the club.
Manchester City have transitioned into the post-Kevin De Bruyne era, which didn’t look that well at the Club World Cup. Still, with Rodri expected back at full fitness after the September international break, as well as the exciting additions of Tijjani Reijnders, Rayan Cherki and Rayan Aït-Nouri, there is space for optimism for Pep Guardiola after a rather disappointing 2024/25.
There is even talk of The Citizens looking to add to their attack towards the end of the transfer window, which could bring them even closer to level of the likes of Liverpool and Arsenal. However, with January signing Nico González seemingly already out of favour with Pep Guardiola, City are expected to be heavily reliant on Rodri’s fitness, which could prove testing in the Spaniard’s first campaign after the ACL injury.
Having conquered the world this summer by shocking European champions PSG in the Club World Cup final, the youthful Chelsea side will certainly feel they can now take on anyone in the Premier League.
As ever under the ownership of Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital, The Blues have been active in the market, adding Liam Delap, João Pedro, Jamie Gittens, Estêvão and Jorrel Hato to their ranks, while juggling numerous outgoings to trim their bloated squad. Still, Enzo Maresca has plenty of quality to work with, as Chelsea now feel they have two strong options in each position, which should be sufficient for the support of their Champions League campaign alongside the potential domestic title charge. They should be some way off Liverpool, Arsenal and Manchester City in the long run, but don’t rule their youthful energy out — as well as any more potential additions until the end of August, which should always be considered for a team as lively in the market as The Blues.
The rest of the Premier League pack shouldn’t really be in contention for the big prize. The one remaining top-five team last season, Newcastle United, are struggling with a host of rejections in the transfer window and the Isak saga, with the Swede allegedly claiming he certainly won’t play for the club ever again. Add in the extra Champions League matches they didn’t have to work with last season, and it looks like even replicating their 5th-place result will be a major success in the upcoming campaign.
A similar situation awaits at Nottingham Forest who will have Conference League to contend with this time around, while Aston Villa try to build on their Champions League experience last season to better juggle their Europa League commitments than teams around them. Manchester United did entirely revamp their attack with the arrivals of Matheus Cunha, Bryan Mbeumo and Benjamin Šeško, but they still have glaring holes in their squad which should limit them to the battle for European spots. Finally, Tottenham will look to stabilize following the arrival of Thomas Frank, although the departure of Heung-min Son and the ACL injury suffered by James Maddison certainly won’t help in that regard. It will be quite interesting to see how the squad copes in the Champions League, as they could at least take away some positives from their heart-breaking UEFA Super Cup defeat to PSG.
Buckle up, it’s go time!
Going into the new Premier League season, Arsenal are certainly one of the favourites once again. Even though the English top flight is such a roller coaster of a ride that no team can ever start the season with a ‘title-or-bust’ mentality, the Gunners’ situation outlined at the start of this article brings them as close to that place as it gets.
The pressure is most certainly on, and all that remains is to see whether Mikel Arteta truly has a squad of mentality monsters on his hands, or if the tag of ‘nearly-men’ will continue to be the first thing associated with the red side of North London.