Arsenal had a successful summer and winter transfer window last season with the club spending more in a single campaign than they ever have before to secure eight new players. Although a lot of the work happened in January after missing out on a midfield, Mikel Arteta still oversaw a title challenge which went beyond most people’s expectations.
Yet the season ended with a feeling of ‘what if?’ Had Arsenal signed some of the other players linked to the club could things have gone different?
For better or for worse. football.london takes a look at some of the major targets from last summer to theorise about what might have occurred if they had signed for Arsenal ahead of the season.
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Youri Tielemans
One of the key targets continuously linked was Leicester City midfielder Youri Tielemans. The Foxes wanted to get a good price for the Belgian and football.london reported that the Gunners were instead ready to wait until 2023 to sign Tielemans on a free and instead decided not to sign a central midfielder.
This was a decision that they quickly reversed on in January. However, it was not Tielemans who arrived but Jorginho.
Perhaps if the Leicester star had been brought in last year then the Italian wouldn’t have come in to replace Thomas Partey when he was out. Tielemans is less so a defensive midfielder like Partey and instead would have rivalled Granit Xhaka.
The loan move for Albert Sambi Lokonga to Crystal Palace would have been difficult to justify leaving the number six position short. With interest this summer in both Declan Rice and Moises Caicedo, it would have been intriguing to know if the presence of Tielemans would have made an impact on this desire to sign one or both of the aforementioned duo.
Tielemans’ Leicester have now been relegated and he leaves without his contract being extended. Where he will go now is unclear but the Gunners have seemingly higher-profile candidates on their agenda.
Pedro Neto
Zero goals and zero assists for Pedro Neto in yet another injury-hit season. The Portuguese international drew interest toward the end of the summer window as Arsenal considered strengthening their forward line.
However, Neto stayed with Wolves valuing the winger at a price the Gunners clearly were not willing to match. The first half of the campaign was struck by a serious ankle injury but this would have been unlikely to have changed too much of Arsenal’s first few months who themselves lost Emile Smith Rowe but continued in fine form through to the new year top of the table.
What Neto’s presence might have prevented was the arrival of Leandro Trossard. The Belgian became an asset far more so for his versatility to cover the injured Gabriel Jesus and the Gunners went on a seven-game winning run with Trossard at centre-forward.
Neto’s ability to play in the role is far less assured and with the form of Gabriel Martinelli and Bukayo Saka, it would seem unlikely what would have been a very expensive transfer would have made much impact at all. Reiss Nelson looks on the verge of a new deal too and certainly contributed more for the Gunners compared to what Neto did for Wolves this season.
Lisandro Martinez
Without question, Lisandro Martinez is perhaps a player that Mikel Arteta was frustrated not being able to sign. The Argentine had a brilliant campaign for Manchester United and adapted very quickly to the rigours of the Premier League.
However, Arsenal instead moved for Oleksandr Zinchenko who became an integral part of Arteta’s philosophy to play with an inverted full-back. The Ukrainian was a huge miss when not available and he surely would not have arrived if Martinez was secured.
Perhaps the biggest difference had the former Ajax man made the switch to Arsenal would have been on Manchester United. The Red Devils have, according to some, overachieved with potentially two trophies and a top-four placing and Martinez has been at the heart of it, who without, maybe things would have gone very differently.
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