Arsenal’s transfer approach this summer has changed significantly from last year.
The Gunners spent a record £268million net last summer, with Andrea Berta bringing in eight players to give Mikel Arteta his deepest squad to date.
That window was about depth — raising the floor of the team and building a squad deep enough to compete on all fronts.
This summer, the thinking is different. And a journalist with knowledge of the mood inside the club has now explained exactly how.
Speaking on ESPN FC, James Olley outlined what he has taken from Arteta’s post-Champions League final press conference and from conversations with those close to the club.
It is clear that this summer is all about adding elite quality and improving the ceiling.
You’re Mikel Arteta…who is your NUMBER ONE big summer signing this year?
“What I took away from the press conference, and also just aligning that to some of the mood music around the club and speaking to other people involved, there’s a sense that they need to be ambitious this summer,” Olley said.
“And that I think is, if last summer was about squad depth — they signed eight players — this is about improving the starting 11. And I think this summer they need to be, to use Arteta’s words, ambitious.”
Arsenal focused on improving the starting XI this summer
Depth is no longer an issue for Arsenal. They had injuries, and they still became Premier League champions.
What they lack, as the PSG defeat highlighted, is the individual quality in attack to make the difference at the very highest level.
Arteta himself pointed to PSG’s individual brilliance in his post-match assessment.
“They are, in my opinion, the best team in the world. What they are able to do with the ball, with individual actions, I haven’t seen,” he said.
Now that you’ve all had time to reflect, why did Arsenal lose the Champions League final?
That is the gap Arsenal need to address, and strong links to the likes of Morgan Rogers and Julian Alvarez are encouraging.
They are players who would immediately improve Arteta’s best eleven and help bridge that gap.
The next step for Arsenal is to build a team capable of winning the Champions League.
Receive a digest of our best Arsenal content each week direct to your mailbox
