Arsenal football club begin the 2024/25 season at the Emirates hosting Wolverhampton Wanderers. Mikel Arteta, now in his 6th season as the manager of the Gunners, is looking to lead his team to their first Premier League title since 2003. He and his group must topple the beast that is Manchester City, who’ve been insanely successful since Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan and the Abu Dhabi United Group took control of the club in 2008. Manager Pep Guardiola has led them to 4 straight PL titles. 6 titles overall including the historic 2022/23 season when he was able to complete the treble; winning the league, FA cup and Champions League. Which is to say, if Arsenal are to pry the title away from Man City, then they must be nearly perfect across a 38-game schedule that runs from August 2024-May 2025. Any team fighting for a title must have a good starting 11, in addition to 6-8 guys who can step in and give one of the starters a break. Add in a youth team prospect or two and you have a team of around 20 players. If we use this logic and turn it on the Arsenal squad, the first team is pretty well sewn up and they have a couple of young midfielders (Myles Lewis-Skelly & Ethan Nwaneri) who will see some playing time. It’s the players who are expected to supplement the starters that need replacing.

Why are Arsenal so inflexible with their valuation’s? Arsenal’s failed deal with Marseille over Eddie Nketiah is a perfect example. The French club was looking to bolster their front-line and earmarked the Englishman as a target. They entered into negotiations with the player, who accepted their contract proposal. The two clubs then met to iron out a transfer fee, with Marseille offering €27million. Arsenal countered with a €30million loan with an obligation to buy and the deal immediately collapsed. Marseille, to their credit, moved on quickly and secured the signature of Elye Wahi from Lens. It’s the Gunners, who are now scrambling to find another suitor for the striker as the August 30th deadline fast approaches. It’s slightly disappointing Sporting Director Edu stuck to his guns and wouldn’t budge from his valuation, as the player wanted the move with the club then using the funds in another deal to improve the squad.

After being turned down by Real Sociedad midfielder Martín Zubimendi, Arsenal turned their attention to his teammate Mikel Merino. A deal with Real Sociedad seemed destined as Merino only had a year left on his current contract and hadn’t signed an extension. The Spanish side wanted €35m, but Arsenal were only willing to offer €25m. Issues with the payment structure have been reported too, with Arsenal wanting to pay over 3 installments and Sociedad wanting much more upfront. The teams aren’t far apart in negotiations, but are at a sensitive and crucial stage. No one wants to lose the PR battle, cave and accept a bad deal. The situation remains in a state of flux.

Arsenal have a terrible habit of throwing out a lower than anticipated opening offer, in the hopes of getting a great deal. Sometimes it works, but other times it really hurts relations between clubs, players and agents. Anyone remember the 40million plus 1 bid for Luis Suarez? This mindset almost screwed up the Riccardo Calafiori deal. Thankfully, he wanted the move to Arsenal and pushed the transfer through.

The season begins on Saturday and Arsenal still look to be behind Manchester City. A couple of signings are needed in key areas, but the club has to be mindful of PSR and not over-spend or else risk severe financial and sporting penalties.

It’s been tough sledding for Arsenal’s Sporting Director Edu trying to sell off some of the deadwood like Nketiah, Aaron Ramsdale, Reiss Nelson, Thomas Partey, Kieran Tierney, Jakub Kiwior and Oleksandr Zinchenko. None of those players have been too involved over the last season or two due to performance or injuries, so interest is low. That’s a lot of work to get done by the end of the summer transfer window. Nearly impossible, if we’re being honest. It would be a shame if those guys sat on the bench for another season, collecting wages and not contributing or playing regularly. With the Gunners being on the cusp of a title, they need to be a little more ruthless and move all those players ASAP. They’ve had their chance to impress Mikel Arteta and haven’t.

The later it gets in the transfer window the harder it is to pry a difference-maker away from his club. If a club makes a major sale, then they have to have a replacement already lined up. As it might be too late to sign a big-name target like Victor Osimhen, Viktor Gyökeres, Nico Williams or Josh Kimmich. Instead the Gunners might have to play the market and settle for a less sexy name or an oft-injured reject from another big club like Kingsley Coman. It seems like Arteta is hoping the team naturally improves under his coaching and with improved continuity, which is possible, but unlikely without a slight talent influx.

Arsenal are still still quite good, and will fight hard against Manchester City and in the Champions League. It just feels, as currently constructed, like they don’t have the quality of depth to fight across multiple fronts, like Man City. A Top-4 finish is the bare minimum. Mikel Arteta doesn’t have to win a major trophy (PL or CL) but it would be nice and quell some of the fanbase. It’s been over 20 years since Arsenal last won the league, so a title within the next 3 seasons is the goal. They’re right on the edge of wining a major trophy, but until you win it the questions will remain. Is Mikel Arteta the right man to lead the Gunners?