Arsenal’s squad turnover since Mikel Arteta arrived in December 2019 has been nothing short of staggering. In the space of five years he has transformed the starting XI and club. On the field matters have only improved.
It was far from straightforward. More than £550million has been spent on new players with almost all traces of Arsene Wenger and Unai Emery totally wiped out. Arsenal’s banter era may well have continued under Arteta for a brief period but the current form is nothing to laugh at.Arsenal have a team of young, hungry players with power, discipline, and togethernessthey are set to finish for the third year in a row bringing back champions league football and earning a place at the top table of the european football in the processThe rate of change from mid-table strugglers to competitors on the elite level has been remarkable. It eclipses Jurgen Klopp’s ascent at Liverpool, although Arteta is yet to get the trophy justification and reward
Unlike Liverpool’s business, Arsenal haven’t had the transfer and recruitment misses in recent years. Their signings have almost always played a key part in taking the club on
At the same time, Arteta has had to cut down and brutally sift through the players which formed late-Wenger and then Emery-era Arsenal. Looking at those sold and let go, Arsenal haven’t made many poor choices.
It is Martinez, now a World Cup winner and regarded as one of the best goalkeepers in the world, who has made the bigger impact. He has helped to elevate Villa to European contenders as well. Martinez’s improvement since leaving Arsenal has been one of the few success stories for those left out by Arteta.
Bellerin lost his place to Ben White and Arsenal’s strength with Jurrien Timber also on the right has added physicality and technical class which was missing.
Bellerin was signed for less than £500,000 and more than made that back for Arsenal, playing more than 200 times. Arteta has upgraded since he left, though.
That trend remains across the defence. Arteta’s backline with Gabriel Magalhaes and William Saliba is one of the best in the world. Compare that to what he had before, with David Luiz, Pablo Mari, Rob Holding, Callum Chambers, and Konstantinos Mavropanos, it is night and day.
Holding stayed at Arsenal until 2023 having been thrown into the team at the end of the season before leaving
His midfield partner is a choice of two. Both are heavily associated with banter era Arsenal but have gone on to do well enough elsewhere, even if they haven’t been able to make Arteta regret his decision.
Lucas Torreira was signed for £25million from Sampdoria and only lasted two years before being loaned to Atletico Madrid and then Fiorentina. He joined Galatasaray in 2022, where he has played over 100 matches.
The club had higher hopes for Matteo Guendouzi. He is still only 25 and signed from Lorient in 2018 for £5million. A product of the Paris Saint-Germain academy,
Arsenal sold him to Marseille in 2022 for less than £8million after loans there and at Hertha Berlin. Guendouzi joined Lazio in the summer and still hasn’t properly settled down. He is making strides towards delivering on the hype and potential as he now returns back into the France national team
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