Although their Premier League title challenge may have ended in disappointment, there should be no doubt the mood around Arsenal is overwhelmingly positive at this point in time.
Over the last two seasons, Mikel Arteta has clicked his development of the Gunners squad into overdrive and they are now viewed as one of the top sides in the Premier League. The additions of the likes of Declan Rice, David Raya and Oleksandr Zinchenko have boosted Arteta’s squad and there are now high hopes a bright future lies in wait for the men from the Emirates Stadium.
But we here at 3AddedMinutes couldn’t wait to assess the business Arteta may conduct so we fired up Football Manager 2024 to see how the world’s most popular managerial simulation believes the Gunners will act during the summer transfer window:
Goalkeepers
It could be said what the virtual Mikel Arteta has done with his goalkeeping options is somewhat unexpected. Aaron Ramsdale remained at the Emirates Stadium despite being the subject of interest from three Premier League clubs (Newcastle, Brentford and West Ham United) and two in Serie A (Atalanta and AC Milan). However, the England international is now third choice in the Gunners ranks after David Raya’s loan move was converted into a permanent switch and Arteta also secured a £16m deal for Trabzonspor’s Turkish international Ugurcan Cakir.
Arteta’s goalkeeper options: Ugurcan Cakir, David Raya, Aaron Ramsdale.
Defenders
This is more like it. Arteta has boosted his already strong defensive options and has overseen something of a clear-out as well to put together what looks like an impressive array of talent. Firstly the new additions came in the form of Bayer Leverkusen wing-back Jeremie Frimpong and Sporting CP’s highly-rated centre-back Goncalo Inacio, who arrived for a combined cost of £84m. Three defenders were moved on to make way for the new arrivals as Nuno Taveres joined Marseille in a £4.4m move, £18m was received from Roma for Jakub Kiwior and Takehiro Tomiyasu joined Inter on loan with a £25m permanent switch to follow at the end of the season.
Arteta’s defensive options: Jeremie Frimpong, Ben White, Jurrien Timber, Kieran Tierney, Oleksandr Zinchenko, William Saliba, Goncalo Inacio, Gabriel.
Midfielders
Just as with his defensive recruitment, Arteta has gone for quality over quantity in midfielder with two eye-catching signings. Firstly, he landed PSV star Joey Veerman in a £14.75m move before seeing off competition from Real Madrid, Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester United to secure a £60m deal for Benfica’s highly-rated midfielder Joao Neves. There were plenty of departures as Arteta brought in £59m from authorising the departures of Charlie Patino (£6m to Fulham), Thomas Partey (£23m to PSG), Albert Sambi Lakonga (£12m to Fiorentina), Mohamed Elneny (£4m to Rennes), Fabio Vieira (£14m to Brighton and Hove Albion).
Arteta’s midfield options: Declan Rice, Joey Veerman, Jorginho, Joao Neves, Martin Odegaard, Emile Smith Rowe.
Forwards
Now, some would suggest if there was somewhere in Arteta’s squad to improve it would be at the top end of the pitch. With Gabriel Jesus and Kai Havertz currently baring the responsibility in the lead striker role, you would have expected a new arrival to compete with the duo – but no! Arteta brought in another winger as he handed over £48m to sign Fiorentina’s Nicolas Gonzalez before authorising the £24m sale of Leandro Trossard to Inter.
Arteta’s forward options: Gabriel Jesus, Bukayo Saka, Eddie Nketiah, Gabriel Martinelli, Nicolas Gonzalez, Kai Havertz, Reiss Nelson.
