Arsenal owner Stan Kroenke lands huge £2.3bn boost that could change Mikel Arteta transfer plans
After nearly £600million worth of transfers the answer for Arsenal is very clear: More transfers.
Mikel Arteta's entire squad overhaul has been quick — certainly much quicker than most imagined it would be — with progress on the pitch at a similarly surprising rate. From 61 and 69 points in his first two years to 84 and another mid-80s to come. Outside the Champions League places to runners up and quarter finalists in that very competition.
But yet after all of this investment and nurturing, it was Eric Dier and Thomas Tuchel who thwarted them in Europe. The answer to many is simple.
For the second season in a row, Arteta has worked with a squad of trusted players that may be 24-ish on paper but is consistently limited to really only 14 or so. This is close to Pep Guardiola's use of his own expensively assembled, handcrafted, group. There should be no surprise here, Arteta has tried to level up his old mentor's methods in north London from the beginning.
His shortcomings have been that whereas City's rotational players involve Jeremy Doku, Mateo Kovacic, Jack Grealish, and even at times Josko Gvardiol, Arteta has turned to Eddie Nketiah, Emile Smith Rowe, and Reiss Nelson. These three combined have played less than 2,000 minutes this season. When the heat was turned up at the Allianz Arena and Arsenal needing helping, there was nowhere to go.
Declan Rice had chased Jamal Musiala in midfield one too many times, Jorginho unable to offer cover when his side aren't bossing the ball, and Bukayo Saka was shut off. Gabriel Martinelli returned to the early 2023/24 version of himself rather than the electric winger who scored 15 times last season. Gabriel Jesus' weaknesses are exposed in the glaring light of big moments like this.
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