After the defeat to Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League final in May, coach Mikel Arteta called on Arsenal to act "very ambitiously, very quickly and very smartly" in the transfer market. However, after nearly two months, the "Gunners'" squad upgrade process is still slower than expected.
To date, Arsenal has only completed three deals including Christos Tzolis from Club Brugge, center-back Piero Hincapie from Bayer Leverkusen and goalkeeper Illan Meslier on a free transfer. Meanwhile, the big targets that the Emirates team is pursuing have not yet arrived.
One of the reasons why Arsenal started slowly is due to the impact of the 2026 World Cup. Up to 13 players of the London team participated in the tournament, the second most among Premier League clubs, only after Manchester City.
The fact that the World Cup takes place right after a long season of 63 matches makes Arsenal players not have enough time to rest. Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka have to play in harsh conditions at Mexico City and Miami, while many other key players are only given three weeks of rest according to FIFA regulations before returning to join the army.
In addition to Rice and Saka, names like David Raya, William Saliba, Mikel Merino, Martin Zubimendi, Noni Madueke and Eberechi Eze all participated in the final stage of the World Cup. The most worrying is Saliba, who had to be sidelined for a long time after a back injury in the semi-final match between France and Spain.
Arteta will therefore have to divide the pre-season preparation process, when the players return in many different phases. Arsenal's goal is to have a full force before the English Super Cup match against Manchester City on August 16.
Besides the physical factor, Arsenal also suffered a shock in the transfer market when they failed in the race to win Morgan Rogers. The English midfielder joined Chelsea from Aston Villa for a fee of up to 117 million pounds.
The Gunners have been pursuing Rogers for weeks and conducted many negotiations through intermediaries to determine the transfer price. However, the club's board of directors did not accept the fee that Aston Villa requested.
While Arsenal is still considering, Chelsea only took a few days to complete the deal. The offer was quickly accepted, the terms were agreed and Rogers completed a medical examination before officially signing the contract.
Despite missing the number one goal, Arsenal still maintains the same transfer philosophy under Sporting Director Andrea Berta. Instead of just pursuing one player, the Emirates team always builds a list of three to four targets for each position before choosing the most optimal option in terms of expertise and finance.
One of the names still in Arsenal's sights is Bradley Barcola. The Paris Saint-Germain winger is considered a player with the ability to dribble, create breakthroughs and play one-on-one very well, suitable for the need to strengthen the left wing after Leandro Trossard left.
Arsenal currently needs to add a player capable of making a difference in one-on-one situations. According to statistics, Arteta's team only ranked ninth in the Premier League in terms of successful dribbling in the previous season, showing that they still lack breakthrough in open play.
Although still possessing a solid defense and being one of the strongest teams in set pieces, Arsenal understands that to rise to a new level and compete for major titles, they need to improve their ability to create opportunities in live ball attacks.
