It’s time for the traditional Arseblog season preview post, and as we do every year we’ve got a couple of other Arseblog regulars to give us their ten cents.

All of these have been written independently of each other, so there’s no cross-contamination. So, this is what myself, Andrew Allen and Tim Stillman think of the squad – as it stands, fully aware the transfer window is open until September 1st – and its readiness for the new season.

Starting, as always, with:

GOALKEEPERS

ANDREW MANGAN

It feels like the first summer in a while where there hasn’t been goalkeeper drama. Arsenal needed to bring in a good number 2 keeper, and they went out and did exactly that. Kepa Arrizabalaga has plenty of experience, and is still young enough to push David Raya who remains the unquestioned number 1.

Nevertheless, his form dipped a bit towards the end of last season, most likely down to  accumulated fatigue because last summer’s goalkeeping nonsense left Mikel Arteta with a player he had no faith in so the Spaniard had to play. Kepa should get the cup games, at least, and if Raya’s form dips again or he has an injury, we should feel pretty comfortable the former Chelsea man understands that a goalkeeper needs to be in his box to use his hands.

TIM STILLMAN

The signing of Kepa Arrizabalaga (‘co-pilot’ suddenly becomes a lot less intrusive and irritating when I type that name, don’t want to interfere and help out now, do you?) means that Arsenal are in a much better position here than we were last summer. This time last year we were offering Wolves a four pack of Red Stripe and 20 Marlboro lights for something called a ‘Dan Bentley.’

On deadline day, Edu blew the dust off the Blackberry and got in contact with an old agent friend who had an AI generated Brazilian goalkeeper called ‘Neto’ (the clue was in the name, guys). The upshot was that Arsenal had to play two goalkeepers who need fake ID to buy a bottle of Thunderbird in the League Cup. We didn’t get a lot of injury luck last season, that Raya stayed fit was pretty fortunate though.

Kepa was cheap and has a good deal more pedigree than a hologram and some children. I doubt Kepa has come to be Raya’s glove butler either and I think he will want to push for the number 1 spot. We saw that Raya’s form and concentration tapered off at the end of last season and I think you can attribute this to the number of games he had to play. TL;DR we look nice and strong here now.

ANDREW ALLEN

When Arsenal confirmed that academy prospect Jack Porter would start in goal against Bolton in last September’s Carabao Cup third-round tie, I took a bit of flak on social media for saying: “We really need to look hard at how we’ve ended up in a situation where we need to play a 16-year-old.”

Given the calibre of opposition, few were worried about an upset at the Emirates, and with plenty of credit in the bank, the manager’s awkward situation was largely chalked up to ‘bad luck’ on the injury front. And yes, there was some of that – David Raya and new boy Tommy Setford were both nursing minor knocks – but I still think my concerns were justified.

The club knew Aaron Ramsdale wanted out. They knew Karl Hein’s contract was running down. We bought two teenage keepers just to get through pre-season, loaned Hein out, played Russian roulette with Ramsdale’s departure, and then baulked at paying what Espanyol wanted for Joan Garcia. In the end, we used a loan slot on Neto – a decision that came back to bite us in January when it was striker or bust… and we all know how that turned out. In short, we faffed about, and it cost us. And that was with Raya making 55 appearances and winning the Golden Glove for the second year running.

Which brings us to this summer. No drama on the keeper front – exactly what the doctor ordered. Rather than spaffing a fortune on a backup, we identified an experienced and affordable solution in Kepa, got him through the door in time for pre-season, and so far, so good. At 30, he’s far from finished; he knows where the edge of his box is, and he looks comfortable with the ball at his feet. Hopefully his presence keeps Raya sharp; both will have one eye on making Spain’s squad for next summer’s World Cup.

Even better, nobody’s moaned about him coming from Chelsea. With Setford developing nicely and Porter waiting in the wings, we can cash in on Hein this summer and still be well-stocked between the sticks.

For once, no complaints from me.

DEFENDERS

ANDREW MANGAN

At the time of writing we’re really well stocked. Two right-backs in Ben White and Jurrien Timber; William Saliba and Gabriel as a first choice centre-half pair, with Cristhian Mosquera, Jakub Kiwior and Riccardo Calafiori options in the middle too; while Myles Lewis-Skelly and Calafiori will compete at left-back, Oleksandr Zinchenko remains on the books as another option in that position.

There may well be a departure before end of the window, and having sadly lost the talent of Takehiro Tomiyasu in the summer too, we still look pretty solid in this area. Mosquera is the relatively unknown quantity, simply because we haven’t seen enough of him yet. We more or less know what to expect from everyone else, so seeing how he adapts to English football will be interesting. He will take some of the burden off William Saliba, but he can also play on the other side of central defence. This might well be useful as we see how much Gabriel will be used in the early part of the season after his big injury and surgery in April.

I really hope Calafiori can stay fit, because whether it’s from left-back or left centre-half, he can bring things to the team that would make us a bit more unpredictable. Lewis-Skelly was rewarded, rightly, with a new contract during the summer, and I’m curious to see if second season syndrome is a factor for him. I think we saw how the opposition learned some of his favourite moves, so variation when he receives the ball – i.e moving it more quickly, not trying to win the free kick – will be really important for him.

A lot of what we’ve done in the last two seasons has been based on a solid defensive platform, and while I expect Arsenal to be different and a bit more expansive in this upcoming season, I still think our defensive prowess will be a cornerstone of any success we hope to have.

TIM STILLMAN

The loss of Takehiro Tomiyasu was really sad because, firstly, he is a really great defender who can play across the back four to the same standard in every position. I can’t think of many defenders in the world for whom you could say the same. It is also very sad because Tomiyasu seems like a great character and an all-round good guy.

Mosquera has played at right centre-half, left centre-half and at right-back during pre-season, which suggests to me that the Spaniard is a pretty direct replacement for Tomiyasu but he also provides needed central defensive cover. William Saliba played the full 90 minutes of a League Cup tie away at Preston last season. That can’t happen again.

Saliba and Gabriel are a truly world class partnership and Mosquera and Kiwior look like good cover for them. Now walk to a fantasy land with me where White, Timber, Calafiori and Lewis-Skelly (who I didn’t even mention in my 2024-25 preview) all stay fit. Who else has that sort of depth and variety at full-back? I look at Arsenal’s defenders and defensive play in general and think it to be capable of winning the Premier League and Champions League without doubt.

ANDREW ALLEN

Ahead of the 2023/24 season, I wrote: “I’m struggling to recall an Arsenal squad with a set of defenders as physically imposing and versatile as those currently on the books.” In last year’s preview, I maintained that stance. Happily, I still feel that way despite the sad departure of Takehiro Tomiyasu.

Even if we set aside Zinchenko, who the club would happily move on this summer, the depth across the backline is enviable. It’s hardly controversial to say William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhaes are the best centre-back pairing in Europe. Around them, full-backs Myles Lewis-Skelly, Ben White, Jurrien Timber and Riccardo Calafiori bring a mix of grit, technical sharpness and their own subtle qualities. The return of White’s overlapping runs is very welcome, Calafiori’s chaos has the potential to rattle stubborn opponents, and Timber remains the best one-on-one defender in the Premier League when you want to shut things down. The only caveat? Keeping those three fit – all have had their injury issues in the last year.

Lewis-Skelly is perhaps the most intriguing case. His breakthrough season was remarkable, but in many ways it was a free hit. He couldn’t really put a foot wrong. When he was occasionally sloppy, it was chalked up to learning a new role on the fly. Now, after a meteoric rise, the real test begins. Everyone’s watching. And plenty will be waiting to trip him up, not least a certain striker at the Etihad. Don’t get me wrong, I firmly believe he has the character to deal with whatever is thrown at him.

I hope we hang on to Jakub Kiwior, who turned over a fresh page with his form at the tail-end of last season, and I’m intrigued by Cristhian Mosquera. For no reason I can properly explain, I decided he was an absolute find within 20 seconds of his debut against Sp*rs in Hong Kong. In theory, both should get their minutes in the domestic cups…although, as we all know, you never quite know when circumstances will press you into action.

Obvious defensive issues have been few and far between in the last couple of years, although we have developed a bad habit of conceding from corners. While the loss of Gabriel and Kai Havertz’s aggressive aerial ability undoubtedly played a part at the tail-end of last season, it doesn’t hide the fact that opponents netted in a variety of ways, whether targeting the near post, the edge of the box or swinging the ball into the mixer. It’s an area that set-piece coach Nicholas Jover needs to tighten up. Do that and we’re golden.

MIDFIELDERS

ANDREW MANGAN

For me Martin Zubimendi is one of the best signings any club has made this summer. He will bring something new to the deep-lying midfield role, and if pre-season is any measure, it looks as if some interchangeability between him and Declan Rice will change the midfield dynamic a bit. The former Real Sociedad man was wanted by Liverpool, Man City, and Real Madrid, for good reason – we should be glad he’s ours.

Martin Odegaard, by his own admission, fell below his best last season, but still finished with 12 assists and 6 goals in all competitions. Obviously he will be looking to improve on last season, but nor was he the absolute disaster some have painted him as. It almost feels redundant to say a creative player should benefit from having real centre-forwards ahead of him this time around, as well as a fit again Bukayo Saka, but the arrival and role of Zubimendi ought to mean he doesn’t end up dropping as deep as he did at times in the previous campaign. I hope Havertz and Gyokeres benefit from his craft.

There’s depth in the form of Mikel Merino for the left-8 position, with Kai Havertz a possible option there too when needed, but I’m watching closely to see what kind of role Ethan Nwaneri gets after committing to a new deal. Surely there was some talk of where he might play before he put pen to paper, and it’s probably no coincidence that talk of Eberechi Eze’s arrival died down as soon as the 18 year old’s contract became official.

Personally, I’d be on board with the Palace man adding more depth, quality and a different kind of creativity to the Arsenal midfield, but right now that looks less than certain. So, as a de facto back-up for Odegaard, we’ll see if that’s something Nwaneri can bring after a 9 goal season last time out. Christian Norgaard feels like solid, sensible back-up for the 6 position too, so while there’s probably a way to squeeze someone else in, it likely depends on departures with players like Fabio Vieira and Albert Sambi Lokonga taking up room in the squad with little chance of playing.

TIM STILLMAN

For last summer’s season preview, I wrote ‘if you had asked me in May, I would have said a deeper, passing midfielder would have been close to the top of my shopping list and hoped that Arsenal would really push to move Thomas Partey on.’ Good things come to those who wait, eh?

Zubimendi is, on paper, one of the best transfers completed by a Premier League this summer, up there with Florian Wirtz. He adds so much variety and is physically capable of far more than Partey or Jorginho. In terms of his passing, he has more clubs in the bag than both those players too and the interchange between him and Rice during the Athletic Club friendly was really interesting and pleasing to see.

Rice, Havertz and Merino is a lot of depth for ‘left eight’ and it looks as though Nwaneri will quite firmly provide support and cover for Martin Odegaard. I think a lot rests on how well Nwaneri takes to this role because we could probably do with a little more star dust from midfield at times. Vieira and Smith Rowe were rightly moved on last summer in my view; but it left us with an attribute gap and Nwaneri developing his creative and pressing games will be key here.

ANDREW ALLEN

In an ideal world, you don’t replace both of your midfield anchors in the same summer. I assume that was the logic behind the failed (and frankly misguided) attempt to hang on to Thomas Partey once it was clear Jorginho would be off on a free. If that situation raised your eyebrows, as it did mine, we at least have to give the club credit for getting Martin Zubimendi in early, before the likes of Real Madrid had a sniff. Pre-season is a small sample size, but the early signs are promising: the Spaniard already looks like he can be the team’s ‘brain’ and he’s more robust than I’d given him credit for. Moreover, his two-footedness should be a real asset, whether we’re popping the ball around midfield or looking to make quick transitions. Freeing Gabriel Martinelli and Bukayo Saka with direct balls was a clear theme in pre-season, and the same tactic should also suit new boy Viktor Gyokeres.

It’s probably a bit reductive to label Christian Norgaard, who’ll likely play second fiddle to Zubimendi, as just a ‘destroyer’, but there’s a real authority to the way he marshals midfield. If we’re looking to see out a lead, he and Mikel Merino are ideal options. The latter is also a genuine weapon in the final third – his edge-of-the-box interplay and composed finishing were a revelation last season – and it’d be a waste not to use them. I suspect he’ll get plenty of minutes despite the competition for places.

After a sluggish start last year, Declan Rice really hit his stride after Christmas. If he can keep timing those late darts to the edge of the box – see his goals against United and Newcastle – there’s no reason he can’t hit double figures in the league. I’m not sure many of us pictured him doing a Frank Lampard impression when he signed, but clearly Arteta thinks he’s got the qualities to thrive further forward. Whether that changes with Zubimendi in the fold remains to be seen. There were hints in pre-season that the pair might rotate responsibilities, giving the Spaniard licence to get forward too.

As for Martin Odegaard, his struggles last season have been well-documented. Post-ankle injury, it felt like a touch of indecision crept in – a touch too many, a split second’s hesitation before pulling the trigger – that sometimes blunted our tempo. Now fully fit, the hope is that he rediscovers his best form. He remains fundamental to how we play, especially when leading the high press.

Ethan Nwaneri is an exciting alternative in the 10 role, but he’s not going to play it the same way. He’s a killer from the edge of the box, happy to glide past a man before delivering a decisive shot or pass. Whether he’s got Odegaard’s Duracell-bunny engine for the defensive side is another question. The midfield may have to adapt to him. Different isn’t bad. It’s just hard to know how it’ll work without seeing more of it.

Assuming Sambi Lokonga and Fabio Vieira move on, we’ll have six strong midfield options, with Kai Havertz and Myles Lewis-Skelly also in the mix if required. As a unit, I’d say it tilts slightly more towards physical than creative for my liking, but there’s always the Max Dowman wild card to play.

FORWARDS

ANDREW MANGAN

We all wanted a striker, we got a striker. The arrival of Viktor Gyokeres was a touch protracted with Sporting playing hardball over add-ons, but this kind of signing has been long overdue. He feels very much like the player Arsenal targetted because they know they need to win ‘now. At 27, and with a hundred+ goals in two seasons in Portugal, he was the experienced option, rather than the semi-project a 22 year old Benjamin Sesko probably represented.

As the pre-season game against Athletic Bilbao reminded us though, he’s not the only man. Our goalscoring eggs are not all in one basket, and Kai Havertz is a very effective option for us up front. He had 15 goals in all competitions before he got injured in February, and would likely have hit the 20 goal mark at least. There’s a long season ahead and I expect both he and Gyokeres to play a lot, and if we badly need a goal or two in a game, I’d venture we’ll see them both together.

Elsewhere, after his injury, Bukayo Saka will be aiming to get back to his best, and if he does Arsenal’s most productive player will contribute with goals and assists as he has done every season until now. The arrival of Noni Madueke provides a credible alternative when needed, although he may also feature on the left if pre-season is anything to go by.

That left-hand side is one which many now view as the last piece of this summer’s transfer business, although it seemingly depends on the departure of one of Leandro Trossard or Gabriel Martinelli – and as yet there don’t appear to be real options for them to go. Nor is there a blindingly obvious upgrade on the market. The aforementioned Eze can do it, but is better centrally in my opinion; Real Madrid’s Rodrygo has been mentioned this summer but after spending almost £200m and bringing in very little at this point, his fee + wages would surely be prohibitive.

I’m always open to player who can make us better, but right now I don’t know who that is on the left. Also, while understanding reservations, I don’t think Martinelli or Trossard are bad players, just ones we need to get more consistent end-product from this season. There’s also Max Dowman to consider after his hugely impressive pre-season, but it may be a case his opportunities come a little later in the campaign – he only turns 16 in December!

TIM STILLMAN

This is where much of the focus and anxiety has been all summer and I think that is understandable. Arsenal bid for Sesko last summer and Watkins in January. Gyokeres is the frog they finally managed to lay lips on and they will hope he turns into their prince. A lot more strikers are moving this year compared to last year, with Ekitike, Sesko, Delap and Pedro moving and Nico Jackson and maybe Ollie Watkins available too.

Even if Gyokeres scores 10-15 goals and offers a good alternative to Havertz (in style as much as anything) that still improves Arsenal. Obviously, I would like him to double that number and some, but it’s actually a fairly low bar to improve Arsenal’s attacking output on last season. In principle, Madueke is replacing Raheem Sterling and that is a bar so low that an archaeologist will probably excavate it in the year 2543.

However, really he will be looked at as a long-term Trossard / Martinelli upgrade, which is right. I think Madueke playing on the left gives Arsenal ‘a different face’ and I am broadly positive about his signing. But I understand reservations fans have that after waiting so long for a striker and a left winger that the club is effectively gambling on two players. ‘Is Gyokeres actually any good?’ And ‘how good is Madueke on the left-wing?’ are season defining for Arsenal, maybe close to era defining. Especially against the context of the defending champions signing Ekitike and (probably) Isak too.

ANDREW ALLEN

That Arsenal lost three key forwards to long-term injuries last season, yet still finished second in the league and reached a Champions League semi-final, is a credit to Mikel Arteta’s coaching. It also highlighted shortcomings in squad planning. Supporters were baying for a new striker last summer and got Raheem Sterling on loan. They begged the club to roll the dice in January, and they kept their powder dry. We’ll never know what might have happened had they acted, and, frankly, there’s little point dwelling on it. What mattered was fixing the issue this summer.

With Viktor Gyokeres’ arrival, the intent to add goals is clear. Even if he wasn’t the first-choice target, and there remain doubts over his ability to reproduce his Sporting Lisbon form in a more competitive environment, the possibility that he might is mouthwatering. Realistically, Arsenal don’t need him to score 40+ goals to have an impact. Collectively, the side was missing 25 goals in the league, a shortfall the Sweden international can help chip away at. After the pre-season win over Athletic Bilbao, Arteta not only declared the new boy will “destroy” opponents in one-on-one situations, but that “he’s going to create a lot of space as well for us”. That should be music to the ears of his fellow attackers, who often struggled last season when sides set up in low defensive blocks.

While it was laughable that Kai Havertz finished as our top scorer in the league with just nine goals, his form up to the point he tore his hamstring certainly suggested he was capable of hitting 20 goals in all competitions. We also know from the way he started his Arsenal career that he’s a confidence player, someone who needs to feel the love to produce his best. Will going head-to-head with Gyokeres push him to new heights or affect him negatively? We have no idea at this point. Arteta clearly loves him as a player, so perhaps there’s a plan to incorporate the pair of them somehow.

Bukayo Saka started last season on fire, racking up 11 assists in his first 12 league games and looking well on course to break Mesut Ozil’s record of 19 in a single campaign. Surgery sidelined him for three months, yet he still finished with 26 goal involvements in 36 appearances, a testament to his remarkable talent.

Keeping him fit is where new boy Noni Madueke comes in. While Saka will still be the de facto winger for most games, Arsenal now have another England international who can step in when he needs a breather. The club have been keen to stress that Madueke wasn’t signed as a “back-up” but as a genuine contributor on either flank, which also means Gabriel Martinelli and Leandro Trossard face greater competition.

I’m not as dismissive of those two as some have been. They both work hard and are diligent defensively, and it’s on the manager to play to their strengths. For Martinelli in particular, we’ve not really done that in the last couple of years; with his pace, we should be playing him into space, not asking him to beat defenders from a standing start.

If we don’t further strengthen that side of the pitch, it’s not a death knell for this team. As I said at the top of this section, we need to find 25 more goals in the league – with the new additions, tweaks in style, Gabriel Jesus returning, and a clean bill of health, that feels entirely achievable.

OVERALL

ANDREW MANGAN

It’s hard to win a title. You need a combination of brilliance, supreme excellence, and a little bit of luck along the way. Last season, we fell short for various reasons we don’t need to re-litigate again. Some were of our own making, some out of our hands, some of it was just bad luck. An unhappy cocktail, and yet we still finished second.

I have to believe the motivation in this group to take that final step has to be huge, from players and managers to staff and everyone involved. It seems clear the summer business was, in no small part, about giving us that bit extra to go from 2nd to 1st. We signed experienced options in key positions, added depth where we needed it, brought in a couple of young players to add something fresh, and I don’t think – even if you’re of a mind that we need one more player – you can accuse the club of not recognising the issues.

Almost £200m spent on six players, a summer that says we recognise there’s only so long we can be runners-up, so this is about winning now. We can only control what we can control; give ourselves the best chance to win games, and I think we’ve done a good job of that during this window. How it all plays out? I wish I knew.

I’m excited and nervous in equal measure. I feel the ‘Arteta HAS to win something now’ narrative is both understandable but sort of unhelpful. I don’t think there will be any club under the same kind of media spotlight as Arsenal next season, but maybe that can be a positive. Channel that siege mentality the way George Graham did when he sought to end a long run without a title.

I hope we can do it. I think we have the tools at our disposal, but it’s gonna take something special. Fingers crossed we have that in the tank.

TIM STILLMAN

Arsenal have tried to improve in the aggregate, in my view. Having been so torn apart by injuries last season, I think Arteta and Arsenal want to raise the level of the entire squad. And not just so they aren’t relying on some substandard options when injuries bite, but to stop injuries from biting so hard altogether.

When four key players have hamstring surgery in one season some introspection is required and I am glad that appears to have happened. I think Zubimendi is an outstanding addition to midfield, the defence looks like the best collection of defenders in Europe. In Saka, Arsenal have one of the best players in the world who I think will continue to improve.

I really like Kai Havertz and think he’s a crucial player (which is why he always starts when fit). But the focus will be on the attack after a season where a mixture of injuries (Saka, Havertz and Jesus) and a failure to refresh gave Arsenal’s attack a stale feel. I think Zubimendi, Madueke and Gyokeres, in theory, all help Arsenal get to the point a lot more quickly.

We have seen tweaks to Arsenal’s pressing structure in pre-season and Gyokeres and Madueke also ought to make the team more effective at capitalising on high turnovers- an area that really needed improvement. It feels like a lot of the focus will be on the two attacking signings and that makes a lot of sense.

Perhaps we didn’t quite get our attacking Zubimendi (obvious, obvious upgrade) but I can also see a path to a collective improvement in attack. Overall, I am confident of another title challenge and maybe it’s about time that the little details that every league champion needs fall our way this year.

It’s time.

ANDREW ALLEN

The squad is good enough to win the league. We’ve done our business early, plugged the gaps, now it’s about making it count from the off.

The tough start means we have to be on it from kick-off on Sunday. No gifting big rivals cheap points or tossing away leads to mid-table fodder. We don’t want to be chasing shadows by October, and we definitely can’t afford another mid-season wobble. And while we’re at it, let’s cut out the stupid red cards. Self-inflicted damage is the easiest kind to avoid.

We can’t control the spending habits of rivals. As galling as it is to watch good teams spend well, it is what it is. If anything, I welcome a more competitive league. If the top sides take points off each other, it might stop us getting into a one-on-one duel where a single slip proves fatal.

The “five years without a trophy” chorus will rise and fall depending on results. Let the pundits have their fun, we just have to keep our nerve and keep playing.

And yes, we’ll need a bit of luck. The right calls from officials, a clean bill of health, and a few fine margins tipping our way. You make your own luck in football, but a small favour from the football gods wouldn’t go amiss either.

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