Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta and club technical director Edu Gaspar have headlined back-to-back summers of expectation in north London after the Gunners have once again shown the intentions of the building project at the Emirates Stadium.
The pair of former Arsenal midfielders are at the head of a period of change in the English capital after the waning years under legendary boss Arsène Wenger which was followed by uncertainty under Unai Emery.
Though it has taken some time for many in the club’s fanbase to come around, Arteta has won over the lion’s share of his former detractors on the back of a shade over £260m being spent between this summer and last year, while the tactical and social requirements for Arteta’s team have become unquestionably clear.
Arsenal has navigated the market in the last twelve months under the overall guidance of owner Stan Kroenke and his son Josh Kroenke in a manner that now proves the club hierarchy is on track with realizing its overall objective of returning the Gunners to top-level success akin to two other KSE franchises; the Colorado Avalanche and Los Angeles Rams.
Zinchenko takes Arsenal’s spending to around £115m this summer. So what’s next over the coming weeks?
A look at what could be to come 👇https://t.co/KIEwRYg7Cj
— Charles Watts (@charles_watts) July 23, 2022
In quotes provided by Goal’s Charles Watts, Arteta was crystal clear that the club’s aim is to challenge at the highest level but to do that, they will have to continue to bring in quality players to push the needle in the senior squad, signaling further business this summer before the window closes.
“We want to take the club to the next level and to compete really with the top teams. We have to be able to evolve the team, improve our players and be able to recruit top, top talent to drive this project to that level.”
“Our target at this club is to win competitions. It can’t be any other than that and the way we are building the squad is to achieve that. Today, we are still in pre-season, the window is not closed, the squad is not closed.”
“We have to make some decisions on the players that we’re not going to be using consistently and be fair and straight with them. We have a big squad and now we have to make things happen.”
2JG8GK9 Nuremberg, Germany. 08th July, 2022. Soccer: Test matches, 1. FC Nurnberg – FC Arsenal at Max Morlock Stadium. Arsenal’s Gabriel Jesus (r) celebrates his goal to make it 2:1. Credit: Daniel Karmann/dpa – IMPORTANT NOTE: In accordance with the requirements of the DFL Deutsche FuBball Liga and the DFB Deutscher FuBball-Bund, it is prohibited to use or have used photographs taken in the stadium and/or of the match in the form of sequence pictures and/or video-like photo series./dpa/Alamy Live News
Despite already securing deals for Gabriel Jesus, Oleksandr Zinchenko, Fábio Vieira, Marquinhos, and Matt Turner, Arsenal is still linked with additional moves this summer, potentially for both another central midfielder as well as a right-sided winger that could not only supplement star talent Bukayo Saka but push him for a spot in the XI.
As previously reported for weeks, Arsenal remains heavily interested in Leicester City’s Youri Tielemans as well as Olympique Lyonnais’ Lucas Paqueta.
Arsenal could also target PSV Eindhoven’s Dutch youngster Cody Gakpo after earlier interest in Raphinha amounted to nothing, with the Brazilian heading off to Barcelona this summer.
According to previous reports in Football.London yesterday, Arsenal has a credible interest in the 23-year-old versatile Dutch international forward who is capable of playing across the entire front line, offering a tactical profile that is consistent with the club’s summer transfer policy.
Though the start of the 2022-23 Premier League campaign is just two weeks away, there still remains plenty of time for Arteta and Edu to improve even further on the Arsenal senior squad and, hopefully, present a platform for success sooner rather than later.
For more on Arsenal, read below
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Financial details revealed as Arsenal table contract extension to Bukayo Saka
