The 22-year wait for a league title is over. The Champions League remains the final frontier. With a window opening on 15 June, Arteta and Andrea Berta have two months to close the gap on PSG.
Gabriel Magalhães blazed the decisive penalty over the crossbar in the Puskás Aréna on 30 May and Paris Saint-Germain retained the Champions League. Arsenal had led from the sixth minute, Kai Havertz finding the net with a composed finish on a tight angle, and held that lead until the 65th minute when Ousmane Dembélé converted a penalty to send the match to extra time. Viktor Gyokeres struck the frame of the goal with ten seconds remaining. Penalties followed, and UEFA confirmed PSG won 4-3 in the shootout, with Eberechi Eze and Gabriel both missing from the spot.
For context: Arsenal had just ended a 22-year wait to win the Premier League. They had beaten Manchester City to the title in the final weeks of the season. They had reached their first Champions League final in two decades. By any measure, 2025-26 was the most successful campaign in a generation. The way it ended in Budapest means the entire summer is framed by one question: what does this squad need to go one stage further in Europe?
What the Season Actually Showed
The Premier League win was earned rather than gifted. Arsenal posted David Raya’s 19 clean sheets across a campaign where the goalkeeper won the division’s best goalkeeper award. Viktor Gyokeres, signed from Sporting in the previous summer as the striker Arteta had sought for three years, delivered consistent output from the front. The title was secured in the final weeks against a Manchester City side in transition after Pep Guardiola’s departure.
In Europe, Arsenal’s run to the final was built on defensive organisation and transitions. They conceded just once across four knockout matches before Budapest, with Bukayo Saka and Kai Havertz providing the cutting edge in the decisive moments. The final itself was a different proposition: PSG sat deep, pressed from the front and restricted Arsenal to 26 per cent possession, the lowest recorded by any team in a Champions League final since Opta began tracking the figure in 2004. Arsenal were not outplayed. They were outworked in the margins that decide finals.
The Left Wing Is the Priority, Rogers the Name
Mikel Arteta has been explicit about what needs strengthening. The left wing has been shared between Leandro Trossard and Gabriel Martinelli across the past two campaigns. Both have been productive without becoming the consistent difference-maker the position demands at the highest level. Morgan Rogers, the England international and Aston Villa forward who signed a new contract at Villa Park only last November, has emerged as Arteta’s primary target for the role. According to the BBC, Rogers is open to the move. An analyst speaking to Casinos.com, the independent platform behind some of the most widely consulted casino bonus guides for UK players and licensed casino operator reviews, put the transfer logic plainly: “Rogers gives Arsenal what they’ve been missing on that left side in the biggest games. He can go inside, he can stay wide, and he presses intelligently from the front. The PSG final would have looked different with a runner of his profile next to Gyokeres.”
The complication is competition. Manchester United, Liverpool and Chelsea have all been linked with Rogers, and Aston Villa will not make the negotiation straightforward. Arteta and sporting director Andrea Berta, who replaced Edu after the previous window and whose record at Atletico Madrid includes orchestrating the £85 million acquisition of Julian Alvarez and the development of Rodrigo, will need to move quickly once the window opens on 15 June.
Alvarez: The Dream That Comes at a Cost
Beyond Rogers, Arsenal’s stated preference for a marquee forward addition points toward Julian Alvarez. The Argentine registered 29 goals and seven assists across all competitions for Atletico Madrid in 2025-26, operating in the hybrid striker-midfielder role that suits his movement and pressing intelligence. Atletico bought him from Manchester City for a reported €95 million in summer 2024. They will not sell cheaply, with valuations in excess of £120 million widely reported. Barcelona and PSG are also interested, meaning Arsenal face a bidding competition with two clubs who have just contested, and in PSG’s case won, the Champions League final.
Whether Berta’s relationship with Atletico, given his time as their sporting director before joining Arsenal this season, assists or complicates the negotiation is a question only the clubs can answer. Arsenal have the finances following their Premier League title and the commercial uplift that comes with it. The gap between ambition and execution in this particular pursuit will be significant.
The Cheaper Option Who Could Still Change the Picture
Junior Kroupi, Bournemouth’s 19-year-old French forward, represents the kind of signing that defines a Berta-era approach: younger, more developmental, significantly less expensive than the marquee options. Kroupi scored 13 Premier League goals in his debut season at the Vitality Stadium, creating 1.2 chances per 90 minutes and adapting to the top flight at an age and pace that most comparable forwards have not managed. Arsenal have been credited with interest alongside Atletico and clubs from Ligue 1.
One supporter, speaking after the Budapest final, framed the summer’s stakes directly: “We won the league after 22 years and lost the European final in a penalty shootout. Both of those things are true at the same time. The squad that did that is not far off being the best in Europe. One or two additions in the right positions and we go back to Budapest next year with more in the tank. That’s what this window has to be about.”
The window opens on 15 June and closes on 1 September. Arsenal Mania’s transfers section has been tracking the build-up across the past fortnight as Berta and Arteta map out their priorities. The fixtures for 2026-27 are released on 19 June, after which the competitive pressure of the coming season becomes real rather than abstract. For a squad that reached the Champions League final this year, the only honest response to Budapest is to go back. The summer is where that intention has to become substance.
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