For the second summer on the spin Arsenal are looking to the transfer window as a pick-me-up following a crushing end to the season.
But whereas last year’s blow saw them miss out on the Champions League, this time around it was the title - such was their improvement under Mikel Arteta. Back in Europe’s top competition, the Gunners are hoping to lure some of the brightest talents in world football to North London as they continue to hunt down Manchester City.
"We've had a very progressive year, I think we did a really good job. We know there is still a lot to do. The intention is to keep going and to keep moving forward,” Arsenal ’s sporting director Edu explained last month.
And while the Brazilian admitted it wasn’t all about spending money, the Gunners are expected to splash the cash in order to maintain their position as the next best after Pep Guardiola’s all-conquering City squad. So with the transfer window now officially open, Mirror Football has taken a look at a best-case scenario of how the next two-and-a-bit months could play out at the Emirates.
Land Declan Rice
There is simply no other place to start. Both Arteta and Edu have made the West Ham skipper their No.1 target for the summer window. And while publicly they would never admit it, ending the window without the West Ham skipper would be seen as a cataclysmic failure.
Arsenal are understood to be edging closer to an agreement with the England international selecting the Gunners as his preferred option. Hammers chief David Sullivan has already confirmed the dynamic midfielder has likely played his last game for the club - now it’s the not-so-simple task of striking an agreement.
Rice’s future is one of the premiere sagas of the entire summer transfer window and Arsenal will need to beat some stern competition in order to sign him. He will also cost a pretty penny, but his profile is the type Arteta hopes to build his entire project around.
This must get done.
Joao Cancelo arrives
Arteta made a point of raiding his old employers last summer, with Gabriel Jesus and Oleksandr Zinchenko both adding the experience of being serial winners. That strategy certainly helped, even if the season concluded without adding to their trophy cabinet.
It may be more difficult this time around with Arsenal now - on paper at least - City’s biggest threat to another Premier League title. Joao Cancelo could still be available though. The Portuguese was ruthlessly chopped in January, shipped off to Bayern despite being rated as one of the league’s best full-backs.
Bayern don’t look likely to make his move a permanent one and Arsenal have been heavily linked. Last term, the injury to Takehiro Tomiyasu meant Ben White was shifted out wide, which in turn took away an extra option at the heart of Arsenal’s defence.
Had the Gunners been in a position to play White over Rob Holding when William Saliba went down, it could have been a different story. A new right back is on the agenda for Arsenal and there are few better tried-and-tested options than Cancelo.
A bonus City swoop
Getting Cancelo would be one thing, but landing City’s club captain Ilkay Gundogan would be another thing entirely. The German international has gone from underappreciated to rightly lauded thanks to a string of stunning performances in the final months of the season.
Guardiola would surely want to keep him at the Etihad, but he is out of contract following their Champions League triumph and has yet to agree to terms on an extension. Unlike the reported pursuit of Cancelo, City would be powerless to stop one of their stars rocking up to the Premier League runners up.
Arsenal would be able to completely transform their midfield in one summer, with a trio of Rice, Gundogan and Martin Odegaard automatically one of the league’s best. And if the Gunners want to try and capture some of the sky blue stardust Guardiola has helped create, who better than the man who lifted the Champions League trophy in Istanbul on Saturday night?
Odegaard snubs PSG
After finally finding himself a home at Arsenal, it feels very unlikely he would ditch it for a money-spinning move to Paris. But the French champions are understood to be interested and could have a Kylian Mbappe-sized wad of cash burning a hole in their pocket very soon.
But Odegaard seems more than happy in North London, having adapted to life as captain with consummate ease. Had Arsenal got over the line last summer, there is an argument to be made that he could have won Player of the Season - such was his brilliant campaign.
With Arsenal set to reinvent their midfield, Odegaard is still the central figure others will need to fit alongside. Dismissing the riches of PSG would be a strong statement of where Arsenal currently find themselves in the ecosystem of elite European football.
Trim the squad
A staple of the job Arteta has done since replacing Unai Emery has been his willingness to turn over the squad at a rapid rate of knots. In fact, not including academy graduates only seven senior players in the squad were there before he took over from his compatriot in December 2019.
And of those seven, a number could be moved on by the time the window closes at the start of September.
Granit Xhaka appears destined to join Bayer Leverkusen - although his departure will depend on a suitable replacement arriving. Kieran Tierney is another who could be sold to boost the pot for potential incomings.
The dream scenario would also be recouping a fee for club-record signing Nicolas Pepe. But that could prove difficult thanks to the whopping salary he has pocketed since his disastrous £72m transfer in 2019. The next-best result is getting him off the wage bill by any means - and this regime have proven willing to prematurely end contracts in order to force exits.
