After recent summers of big spending – principally on Declan Rice and Kai Havertz in 2023 – this pre-season started relatively quiet but has now kicked into gear with the signings of Kepa and Zubimendi, with Gyökeres and Madueke rumoured to follow. But why can’t Arsenal generate more funds from offloading fringe players? If the transfer budget could be boosted, Mikel Arteta could address the areas of his team most lacking (fans may be shouting “centre forward”).
Arteta will want to hit the ground running in August and September. Their first six fixtures aren’t the kindest: Manchester United away, Leeds at home, Liverpool away, Nottingham Forest and Manchester City at home, then Newcastle away.
Let’s assess the current squad, and who might be offloaded before the United game on Sunday 17 August.
Returning loaned players
At the fringes of the squad are goalkeeper Karl Hein, returning from Real Valladolid, midfielder Albert Sambi Lokonga (Sevilla), and Reiss Nelson (Fulham).
Karl Hein started 31 of 38 La Liga games at Valladolid, with an overall 6.41 rating at WhoScored. He made an average of 3.1 saves per 90 minutes, and was busy for his country Estonia in the Nations League, making 6.3 saves per 90.
Lokonga didn’t quite nail down a place at Sevilla, starting 16 games in La Liga and coming off the bench in 6. Going back to the 2021/2022 season, he started 12 Premier League games for Arsenal, but since then has started fewer. He was loaned to Crystal Palace and Luton, getting relegated with the latter.
Nelson didn’t play as much as he’d have expected at Fulham, starting only 5 games in the league. He did score one and assist one. Nelson was loaned out on deadline day, saying he was convinced after talking with Marco Silva about his style of play.
Left back Nuno Tavarez, midfielder Fábio Vieira, and winger Marquinhos also returned from loans. Of these players, Vieira is worth the most (€22m), according to Transfer Markt. Tavarez has joined Lazio for €5m, and Marquinhos has returned to Brazil to play for Cruzeiro for €3m.
Players who barely played
Last season, Kieran Tiernay, Oleksandr Zinchenko, Gabriel Jesus, and Jorginho all struggled for minutes. Tierney has joined Celtic and Jorginho has joined Flamengo, both on free transfers.
Even players who some fans were unfamiliar with at the start of the season, such as Ethan Nwaneri and Myles Lewis-Skelley, played considerably more than those players.
Other players, such as Riccardo Calafiori and Jakub Kiwior, will be aiming to feature more next season and are unlikely to want to go anywhere. Calafiori arrived last summer for €45m.
Incoming and departing transfers
So far only keeper Kepa Arrizabalaga has arrived (for €5.82m from Chelsea) on a permanent transfer. Kepa was an unused substitute for Thomas Tuchel’s Chelsea side that won the 2021 Champions League final. Arsenal fans will be hoping he is again part of a victorious squad in Europe, and after Arsenal reached the semi-finals last season, supporters may be searching for “UCL tickets final”.
Martin Zubimendi has finally completed his big transfer following Real Sociedad’s request the transferred be ratified in July for financial reasons. Brentford midfielder Christian Norgaard, and Valencia centre-back Christian Mosquera may also be joining soon along with Gyökeres and Madueke, and possible Rodrygo.
Thomas Partey and Takehiro Tomiyasu were released. They’re both currently without a club.
Why haven’t Arsenal made more money this summer?
Arsenal have sometimes managed to offload fringe players for decent sums of money. Joe Willock was sold to Newcastle for £25 million, and going back to 2017, Theo Walcott was sold to Everton for £20 million.
But those are outliers. Fans are just as likely to remember losing Emiliano Martinez to Aston Villa. The Argentina keeper has since won the World Cup and helped Villa reach the Champions League. Although the fee was £20 million, most pundits felt Arsenal made a mistake letting Martinez leave.
With the transfer activity starting to ramp up, it begs one question: can Arsenal afford to spend without recouping the money?
Most players who weren’t starting many games would cost significant money for others to sign. How many clubs can afford Gabriel Jesus’s wages, for example?
Whatever the reason, Arteta will hope there’s money coming in before August so that Mikel Merino doesn’t have to play too many more matches up front.
Image Source: unsplash.com