If any club has learned that patience is imperative in taking that next step forward, then it’s Arsenal.
For a good few years, the Gunners must have thought they were destined to be the Premier League’s bridesmaids and never the brides. Three consecutive second-placed finishes seemed to confirm that, with Mikel Arteta’s men coming close but not quite close enough in their pursuit of the top flight crown.
Then, something clicked and everything fell into place last season as they finally got over the line and ended a 22-year wait for domestic glory. Now, they are looking to replicate that achievement by winning the European Cup for the first time in their history.
Wednesday sees Arteta’s men begin their Champions League group phase campaign with a tough-looking trip to Napoli. For Arsenal, the aim is clearly to go one better after coming so close last year.
It took Paris Saint-Germain spot-kicks to see them off in last season’s showpiece finale in Budapest. Looking at their progress year-on-year since returning to Europe’s blue riband club competition offers nice reading for Gunners fans. They were quarter-finalists in 2024, semi-finalists a year later and then, as mentioned, runners-up last term. So, can they realistically juggle an assault both on the Premier League and in Europe? To do so, they’ll need to maximise their squad just as they did so well last year.
Speaking of the squad, it appears an emphasis has gone on streamlining it this season. The transfer strategy this summer was clearly evolution rather than evolution with only a handful of signings brought in, predominantly in defence and midfield. Ezri Konsa and Bruno Guimaraes were the two stand-out acquisitions and each brings a wealth of Premier League experience as well as nous on the European stage, too.
However, the big – and seemingly unanswered – demand from supporters was to strengthen at the top end of the pitch. Arsenal fans wanted a marquee signing and were getting giddy amid the links to the likes of Julian Alvarez and Vinicius Junior. Ultimately, neither of those came close to a move to the Emirates with the only real addition to the forward ranks being the signing of Greek wideman Christos Tzolis.
After allowing the likes of Gabriel Jesus and Leandro Trossard to depart, Arsenal do look a little short up top but nevertheless still possess genuine quality when everyone is fit and firing.
Addressing the matter of already having a squad packed with talent after last weekend’s thrilling win over Chelsea – a result that maintained their 100 per cent start to the league season – Arteta responded: “It’s no question that we have some great players, you know, and we really believe in them, and can they improve? Yes, I can improve the first one, and they can have another version of themselves that is even better than anything that we’ve seen, and if the team is better and the players are better, everybody’s going to be benefiting from it, and that’s the objective that we have.”
For the trip to Naples, Arteta could shuffle his pack to manage minutes meaning potential starts for Viktor Gyokeres and Martin Zubimendi against Max Allegri’s side.
