Arsenal have undergone a drastic culture shift in the last few seasons and it has been headed up by head coach Mikel Arteta. A ruthless squad exodus has gradually taken place in recent years and in its place astute signings have been made with that objective further showcased by Arsenal's summer business.
Declan Rice, Kai Havertz, Jurrien Timber and David Raya all signed for the Gunners and in doing so, snubbed interest from elsewhere. Manchester City were firmly in the race for Rice, Timber has his admirers at Manchester United, while Havertz and Raya had strong interest from Real Madrid and Bayern Munich respectively, yet all four chose Arsenal.
And that is because it is Arteta's clear demand to targets, if another club is interested in the player they want, a bidding war will not begin. If the selling club and player decide for that to take place, Arsenal will simply leave the race, especially if they feel as though they are being taken advantage of, with the best example of that being the chaotic saga involving Mykhailo Mudryk.
For several months, Arsenal had put it in the ground work to sign him from Shakhtar Donetsk, but their pursuit was made more long-winded by the Ukrainian club's demands, which allowed Chelsea to swoop in and sign him. In hindsight, that decision has proved to be very smart with Mudryk struggling to adapt to life in the Premier League, while Leandro Trossard, who Arsenal signed instead, has thrived.
While he has already played an important role this season, scoring the equaliser in the Community Shield against Manchester City that Arsenal went on to win on penalties, Trossard has played just 62 Premier League minutes. However, he is confident more game time will arrive.When asked about his lack of action, the 28-year-old said: "I don’t know how the national coach feels about that [his role at Arsenal]. I am still convinced that I will play enough matches. I will be ready for the European Championship.
"We have a game every three days [at Arsenal], so it’s impossible to play with the same guys every time. It’s up to me to show myself when I get a chance. The coach told me that too." While Trossard's reaction would be the expected view of a professional athlete, when he found himself behind Kaoru Mitoma in the pecking order at Brighton, it was a very different story.
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