The biggest challenge Mikel Arteta needs to address is the midfield with rumours of Granit Xhaka and Thomas Partey leaving the club this summer. While these moves will be contingent on incomings, it’s an area Arsenal want to get younger in while retaining quality.
Interest in West Ham United captain Declan Rice has been well documented, and the Gunners will be hopeful of completing that deal soon, while German international Kai Havertz looks set to join the club from Chelsea in the near future.
Those two additions, plus the return of Emile Smith Rowe from injury, gives Arsenal more options than last season. But can Havertz and Smith Rowe replicate or even better Xhaka’s form from last season?
The main question marks come defensively with Arteta favouring a 4-4-2 off the ball with Martin Odegaard joining the striker up front. Neither Havertz nor Smith Rowe appear natural fits to slot into the midfield two alongside Rice or Partey, so Arteta needs to decide whether to retrain those players or tweak his defensive set-up.
Last season's title challenge collapsed after the loss of William Saliba in March and the inability to replicate his quality in defence. Clearly, a back-up centre-back or right-back, with Ben White becoming the deputy in the middle, is a priority.
The question comes over price and whether to sign a specialist or versatile option. It’s an obvious position of need but how many minutes are going to be available and subsequently how much is the club willing to spend.
Based on the use of Takehiro Tomiyasu last season, Arteta will likely want to rotate right-back options fairly frequently.
Then, with all the talk of incomings, there’s a question of sales. Arsenal have no shortage of players on the potential chopping block, from loan returnees to youth prospects to squad players struggling for game time.
Arsenal must juggle the priority of sales versus incomings and whether they can afford or want to lose potentially key players to fund this summer’s business.
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