Mikel Arteta says Arsenal are facing a “very big” summer as they look to reformat a first-team squad that has fallen short on the domestic front this season.
The Gunners had been expected to go toe-to-toe for the title with Manchester City for a third consecutive season, but have been left trailing in the wake of Arne Slot’s Liverpool, who look destined to take first place at a canter.
While the Champions League continues to tease the possibility of major silverware, the inquest into a disappointing league campaign has been humming in the background, with a lack of squad depth, exacerbated by serious injuries to key personnel, identified as a key factor.
That the club didn’t look to resolve matters in the January transfer window suggests they are keeping their powder dry for the summer when a big-money striker is expected to be top of the shopping list. Sporting Lisbon’s Viktor Gyokeres is said to be of growing interest while RB Leipzig’s Benjamin Sesko and Newcastle’s Alexander Isak remain long-term targets.
In midfield, the imminent Bosman exits of Thomas Partey and Jorginho have seen the club line up Real Sociedad’s Martin Zubimendi as a replacement. While in goal, a new backup to David Raya is needed.
In addition to loanees Neto and Raheem Sterling, a number of fringe players, including Kieran Tierney, Oleksandr Zinchenko, Jakub Kiwior, Fabio Vieira, Nuno Tavares, Reiss Nelson and Sambi Lokonga could all depart.
There are also a number of contracts that need to be revisited with youngsters Ethan Nwaneri and Myles Lewis-Skelly due to be rewarded for their breakthrough seasons, while star names Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Magalhaes, William Saliba and Gabriel Martinelli are two years out from becoming free agents.
Bearing all that in mind, you can understand why Arteta is delighted by the arrival of new sporting director Andrea Berta, who joins a football executive team overseen by managing director Richard Garlick with James King (director of football operations) and Jason Ayto assisting him.
Interestingly, Arteta says he and the club have long earmarked 2025 as a big moment in his ongoing project.
Facing the media ahead of Tuesday’s clash with Fulham, he said: “The way we planned the first five summers, it was going to be very big and we were going to have different objectives because the turnaround of players and the objectives of those windows were going to be different.
“But now, when you’re going to go again, first of all, we need to increase the depth of the squad, but also we want to increase certain quality and skills that we need to go to the next step. It is going to be a big one, and we are very excited about it.
On mapping out Arsenal’s summer transfer windows for five years as soon as he became head coach in December 2019, he added: “Yes, [we mapped] what we expected. Because in the beginning there were a lot of players with three, four, five-year contracts, so the turnaround of a squad and how you visualise the next three, four, five years is very dependent on what is going to happen here.
“I think they were very, very different and the way you start to evolve and you start to master certain things and compare it to other certain things, the changes cannot be that much. And that is where we are – the line now is thinner, the margins are smaller, but the cost of that as well increases, so it goes a little bit in a different direction.”
He added: “Every summer is a big opportunity and especially with the number of players we have in the squad right now, that is necessary. But it is a big summer for many things.
“First, you have to maintain all the good foundations that we have and then obviously, how can we improve and evolve the team.”
“It is not about only investing because there are certain positions that probably we didn’t expect to have someone like Ethan [Nwaneri] or Myles [Lewis-Skelly] contributing to it, which has been great and if we have more of those, beautiful, but there were some turnaround on players that it was quite evident that it was going to happen for different reasons and you have to plan that.”
Evolving the team will be a large part of Berta’s remit. After 12 years working in Spain for Atletico Madrid, the Italian brings plenty of European expertise to the table.
Pressed on whether the 53-year-old’s arrival means he’s more confident that Arsenal will get done everything that needs doing, Arteta said: “What I am very confident about is how he is going to make everybody better. That is my confidence.
“The way he is, the personality he has, the way he talks about and how passionate he is about what he does. That is what we need. New blood with people that are so ambitious, that they are so attached to the football club and what we already do, but want to add value.”