MIKEL ARTETA has dreamed for years of having an Arsenal squad with two quality players in every position.
After nearly six years in charge, he finally has it — and it could not have come at a more perfect time following three years on the spin as the Prem’s perennial runners-up.
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And the obvious question now is: can he finally deliver a first Premier League title since 2004 with NO excuses?
The imminent, £68million arrival of Eberechi Eze from Crystal Palace sees the Gunners’ summer spending break the £250million barrier.
Arsenal have added seven new faces, meaning boss Arteta has now forked out more than £1BILLION since taking charge in December 2019.
The squad the Spaniard has painstakingly built, over years of near misses where silverware is concerned, is now complete after weeks of assertive and impressive recruitment.
He has an experienced back-up keeper in Kepa Arrizabalaga, a versatile young defender in Cristhian Mosquera, experienced midfielders Christian Norgaard and Martin Zubimendi, a Prem-worthy winger in Noni Madueke and that elusive No 9 in Viktor Gyokeres.
Add Eze into the mix — a game-changer who can feature out wide and through the middle — and Arteta has never had so many options to choose from and rotate over a gruelling season across four competitions that they are expected to win or go far in.
Even with the unfortunate injury to Kai Havertz, the strength in depth is finally at a level to compete with title rivals Liverpool, Manchester City and Chelsea.
A repeat of last season’s moans about key injuries to key players will no longer be entertained in a squad that is currently 29-strong.
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Arsenal’s transfer deals
IN
- Viktor Gyökeres – from Sporting Lisbon – £64m
- Noni Madueke – from Chelsea – £52m
- Martin Zubimendi – from Real Sociedad – £51m
- Christian Norgaard – from Brentford – £15m
- Cristhian Mosquera – from Valencia – £13m
- Kepa Arrizabalaga – from Chelsea – £5m
TOTAL – £200m
OUT
- Nuno Taveres – to Lazio – £4.4m
- Marquinhos – to Cruzeiro – £2.6m
- Jorginho – to Flamengo – free
- Kieran Tierney – to Celtic – free
- Takehiro Tomiyasu – released
- Thomas Partey – released
TOTAL – £7m
There will be a few exits to trim the fat — midfielders Fabio Vieira and Albert Sambi Lokonga, defenders Oleksandr Zinchenko and Jakub Kiwior and winger Reiss Nelson could still exit before the window slams shut on September 1.
Regardless, Arteta — alongside new sporting director Andrea Berta, managing director Richard Garlick and co-owner Josh Kroenke — has delivered off the pitch.
Now it is time to deliver on it. And what a time to flex those muscles at home to newly promoted Leeds at the Emirates on Saturday.
A statement needs to be made. In previous windows, Arteta has often given off a sense of regret of what could have been. Not this time.
His wish to have the options that his old mentor Pep Guardiola has at City has been granted — and then some.
On whether the squad is potentially too big with all the new recruits, Arteta, 43, scoffed and said: “Too big? If we are too big then I don’t know how many the rest have.
“We have a really good balance of players, the versatility, the understanding of roles, the mixture between experience and youth, the ambition.
“The players we have here, the players already signed, are incredible.
“It shows the ambition of the club, the ambition of the ownership and the ambition of the board, the players, the manager and we all want more.
“We are here to win major trophies, to keep evolving.
“It’s our competitors, what we’re doing, where the league is going.
“We’re going to be in front, not just chasing or acting or behind.
“We wanted to be in a place where we feel very comfortable, the right evel of competition in the team.
We have a really good balance of players, the versatility, the understanding of roles, the mixture between experience and youth, the ambition.
Mikel Arteta
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“But as well the right characters in the right roles and how those roles are going to change.
“We are in a very good place. I am very happy with what we have.”
In 2023-24, the title charge was hampered by an untimely injury to centre-back William Saliba.
Last season, big names like Havertz, Bukayo Saka, Martin Odegaard, Ben White, Gabriel Martinelli and Gabriel Jesus left them helpless and toothless as Liverpool romped to the title.
Investment this summer was also a necessity after letting Jorginho, Thomas Partey, Takehiro Tomiyasu and Kieran Tierney all leave on frees.
Arteta added: “When you shake the tree and bring in more players, there are always things that can happen.
“The spirit of that is to be more competitive, to be better and learn from the past and with the squad we had last year, we made life very, very difficult.
“If you look at the size and depth of other squads and the resources they had, we wanted that at least and more.
“We make sure we are investing in the right profiles, the right characters, especially the right players who can give us an edge and improve us and I am very certain we have done that.”
Astonishingly, Arsenal may not be finished in the transfer window.
Arteta revealed: “We are all with big smiles on our faces, understanding that we have done really well, but the market is not closed.
“We have to stay very alert because there are a lot of things that can happen. But, so far so good.”
