As the 2024/25 season - punctuated by several highs, and many lows - becomes a distant memory, it's time for me (like so many others) to look forward to 2025/26.
And so, without further ado:
I'm not going to speculate or get too fixated on what other clubs have done over the summer, and how this may affect their progress this season; except to say:
Liverpool - won the league comfortably by jumping into an early clear lead, and never looked like getting caught. Recruitment appears slightly lop-sided, with more focus on attack; both full-backs are better going forward than defending and they do appear light at centre-half. We also cannot know how the tragic loss of Diogo Jota may affect them. Keep your eyes peeled for Florian Wirtz
Manchester City - had a major drop-off last season, yet still finished just three points behind Arsenal. The retirement of KDB should mean a change in style, but they appear to have recruited well in Cherki (especially) and Reijnders. The addition of Ait-Nouri should see Gvardiol back at his optimum position of centre-half. They will certainly be better this season
Chelsea - their Buy Two/Sell One policy continues, and I'm pretty sure that they must be strengthening every season; although it's difficult to see the wood for the trees. Their progress will depend on how quickly Maresca identifies his starters, and how quickly they gel. But they still have ground to make up on the main contenders
The rest - whilst the general quality of the league continues to go up, I can't see any other teams getting close to the main contenders. What appears certain is that former giants Manchester United, and would-be giants Tottenham Hotspur, will be better than they were last season. Although that's not saying much...
But now onto our main focus - the mighty Arsenal:
Recruitment
So far, this appears excellent! Reading from back to front:
a) Kepa the keeper has filled an important hole. Trustworthy, and will enable Arteta to give Raya strategic breaks. And at £5m a bargain!
b) Mosquera looks to be precisely the right profile of defender to cover multiple right-sided positions, and give Saliba some time off
c) the losses of Partey and Jorginho have been addressed with Norgaard (solid and reliable) and particularly Zubimendi, who has looked world-class in pre-season and who should help evolve Arsenal's playing style (I'll come to that further down)
c) the signing of Noni Madueke caused an initial social media meltdown amongst fans! Tainted with being ex-Chelsea, this saw fans taking an irrational and instant dislike to the move. However, a further examination of the player reveals his skills and metrics to be precisely what the team requires, and even at upwards of £50m this actually look the right price when we see the prices involved in other winger moves this summer. Early signs are promising
d) the key move was always going to be for a centre-forward. I initially expected this to be Sesko (who has now set his career back at least three years by signing for Manchester United), but when negotiations with RB Leipzig became fraught the club soon switched to Viktor Gyokeres.
Now, Gyokeres may not necessarily have the qualities and silky skills we may want to see in an Arsenal centre-forward, but he is a single-minded beast of a player! What he may not quite have in terms of the very top level, he more than makes up for in other areas. He is quick - both of mind and of foot - he will drive defenders to distraction with his non-stop movement, and he loves to get a shot off! His addition, alongside that of Zubimendi, should see a different look to the way Arsenal attack this season, and I cannot wait to see him in action. No more 'false 9', and wingers crossing into an empty penalty area; as we saw against Bilbao last week.
What the signings of the likes of Zubimendi and Gyokeres clearly indicate is that the hierarchy at the club are in Win Now mode. Now is the time to deliver. And we can expect them to make every effort to do so.
Sales
Whilst Arsenal have already spent almost £200m in the current window, and now have two 'starters' for every position, I think that we all feel that one more addition would be a welcome luxury. I'd heard a month ago that Eze was pretty much done, but the vibes don't appear anything like as strong now. Talk of Rodrygo appears somewhat fanciful, but that cannot be entirely written off either. What we can all accept is that any further move will be dependent on sales, as nobody has moved on from the first team squad at the time of writing.
And so, whilst we can admire the decisiveness and quality of Andrea Berta's work so far - not just in getting the above signings over the line, but in getting several players to put pen to paper on new contracts - it is now time to see how well he can sell players. And here I'm talking about those who appear to have little or no future at Arsenal; the likes of Hein, Zinchenko, Vieira, Lokonga, Nelson, one or other of Trossard and Martinelli, and perhaps Kivior. £100m+ of incomings, hopefully?
I cannot see any more incomings until very late in the window now, with sales looking to be the current priority for Berta. But, even if nobody else comes in, Arsenal really ought to have more than enough to push hard on all fronts this season (injuries and lunatic refereeing decisions notwithstanding).
Player Development
Even with all these new additions, and the return to full fitness of those lost to serious injury in the spring (I'm talking Calafiori, Timber, White, Gabriel, Saka and Havertz here), there still appears to be plenty of room for playing time for some seriously talented youngsters. MLS has signed a new contract and already appears to have made the left-back spot his own (but will face stiff competition from Calafiori). Nwaneri has also put pen to paper, and now appears to be the Odegaard alternate as well as being capable of playing anywhere in the forward positions. And then there's Max Dowman...
He's 15 years old - putting that into context, he'll be starting Year 11 and studying for his GCSEs at school next month - and yet from what we have seen of him he makes Nwaneri look almost ordinary! We have had some exceptionally talented youngsters come through the ranks at Arsenal over the years - the likes of Fabregas, Wilshere, and of course Bukayo Saka - but I think that we can be as excited about Max as about any of them.
In fact, I'd go as far as to say that he can currently be bracketed amongst such teenage superstars as Owen, Rooney, Mbappe, Yamal and (yes, I'm actually going to say it) even Lionel Messi for potential. An absolute gem, but one that needs careful polishing and protecting. We have already seen him make an impact in pre-season - winning two penalties and consistently embarrassing seasoned professionals - but we must temper our enthusiasm because of his age. Saying that, I'd like to see him on the bench on Sunday!
Playing Style
It has clearly become as evident to Mikel Arteta as it has to us that Arsenal's playing style has needed to evolve. Attempts to stifle and dominate opponents have been mainly successful, but we have all known that there has been something missing. The tempo has been largely too slow, and I'm as sick as I'm sure you are with watching umbrella-shaped passing moves in front of massed defences, with little movement (or room to do so) from the forwards. And at the same time leaving the team open to swift breaks. If Arsenal had turned half of last season's draws - many from winning positions - into wins they'd have won the title.
If you'd have been paying attention to Liverpool's style of play last season, you'd have seen that Slot was prepared to lose possession as a result of the dynamism of his side's play, secure in the knowledge that the class of his players meant that when they turned the ball back over, they'd be able to exploit the space inevitably left by the opposition. More of a counter-attacking style of play than of the stifling football developed by Guardiola and copied by his acolyte Arteta.
It feels to me that Arteta has picked up on that. Arsenal have bought players to augment the qualities of the squad, and so we should see much swifter recycling of the ball from Zubimendi than Partey and Jorginho were ever capable of, and with Gyokeres (and LANS Havertz) up top there will be considerably more movement for the likes of Zubi, Rice and the full-backs to hit. Hopefully, Arsenal should be prepared to lose the ball more often, secure in the abilities of our defenders to do their jobs, in order to create space and opportunity.
Opponents can expect to have far less time to reset now, and I cannot wait to see this develop.The additions are going to enable us to watch the likes of Rice, Odegaaard and Saka become even better players than they already are.
We have already seen evidence of this in pre-season, and connections will continue to grow all over the field. The pressing will look different, and the speed of travel will do too. I am confident that we are going to see a far more exciting Arsenal in 2025/26.
And so to...
Predictions
Now, I am not going to pronounce here that Arsenal are going to win everything this season. That would be bordering on madness! In our own league, the opposition is as stiff as it can possibly get, and in Europe the might of PSG stand in all our ways like a gigantic Eiffel Tower; not forgetting the likes of Barcelona either.
What I would say is that despite all the injuries and other misfortunes of last season Arsenal came perilously close to glory in both major competitions, and that they have certainly taken steps to become even better. So they have never been as well-equipped as they are now since the early 2000s (when the likes of Vieira, Pires, Bergkamp and Henry thrilled us all) to challenge for all the major trophies.
The start to the league campaign is tricky for sure - with trips to Old Trafford, Anfield and St James Park in the first month, as well as a home game with Manchester City - but the Premier League will be fearful of what Arsenal can do. And so they should be!
We should be super-optimistic. The time is now. COYG!
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