It’s been a quiet summer so far for the champions on the transfer front, with much of the focus at Arsenal likely to be centred around the fitness of their World Cup stars, namely Declan Rice, Bukayo Saka and now William Saliba.
Following a season that ended in Premier League glory and narrow Champions League heartbreak, there’s no need to panic, with this carefully assembled squad only in need of a little fine-tuning.
Look to the case of Liverpool last summer, the Anfield side seeking to utilise their newfound position as the top-flight’s top dogs by going big in the transfer market. Less than 12 months later, Arne Slot was sacked.
There’s no need to rip things up, merely just strengthen even further, with the left flank likely to be the priority for Mikel Arteta and Andrea Berta.
How Arsenal plan to replace Leandro Trossard this summer
It has been confirmed that Leandro Trossard will be a Besiktas player next season, the Belgian ending his three-and-a-half-year stay at the Emirates on a high after last season’s title success.
|
Trossard – PL Record |
||
|---|---|---|
|
Season |
Games |
Goals (Assists) |
|
25/26 |
31 |
6 (6) |
|
24/25 |
38 |
8 (7) |
|
23/24 |
34 |
12 (1) |
|
22/23 |
36 |
8 (12) |
|
21/22 |
34 |
8 (3) |
|
20/21 |
35 |
5 (5) |
|
19/20 |
31 |
5 (3) |
In 174 games for the Gunners in all competitions, the £27m man scored and assisted 70 goals following his arrival from Brighton and Hove Albion, so often delivering the goods when needed off that left flank.
That impending exit could well be followed by Gabriel Martinelli’s own departure, by all accounts, the polarising Brazilian enjoying a promising World Cup, yet having scored just one Premier League goal all season.
In terms of incomings, the direct replacement for Trossard is likely to be Club Brugge sensation, Christos Tzolis, with the Greek winger enjoying a remarkable 2025/26 campaign in Belgium.
In the Jupiler Pro League, Tzolis scored 17 and assisted a further 23 goals, having created 25 ‘big chances’ while averaging a ridiculous 3.8 key passes per game.
For context, Martin Odegaard led the way at Arsenal last term with just six Premier League assists, while Rice racked up the most ‘big chances’ with 17 in total. As for key passes, the best in that regard was Saka with just two per game.
An exciting, high-potential addition Tzolis should well be, although he is likely to raise the floor rather than raise the ceiling, seemingly set to strengthen the squad rather than necessarily enhance the starting XI.
And so, the Gunners appear to be seeking the type of world-class left-winger that they haven’t had since Alexis Sanchez.
Why Arsenal could be set for an Alexis Sanchez repeat this summer
Back in the summer of 2014, Sanchez had emerged as a top target for a raft of Premier League clubs, with the Chilean in line to leave Barcelona amid the wealth of competition for places in the forward line.
The Catalan side had already signed Neymar in 2013, before adding Luis Suarez to their ranks a year later, leaving Sanchez as something of a spare part behind that Lionel Messi-led trio.
At the time, Liverpool, seeking a Suarez replacement, were in the frame, although the ex-Udinese man opted for Arsenal instead, believed to have favoured a move to London rather than heading for Merseyside, as former Reds CEO Ian Ayre revealed in 2017.
“There was much publicised interest in Alexis Sanchez, as part of the deal which saw Luis go to Barcelona, and that deal was done – the only reason it wasn’t was that the player and his wife wanted to live in London.
“We couldn’t move the football club to London unfortunately!”
The rest, as they say, is history, with Sanchez, alongside Mesut Ozil, proving the star attraction at the Emirates, notably netting 60 goals in just 122 Premier League games for the club.
That significant coup could be set to be repeated, if reports are to be believed, with journalist Konstantinos Lianos revealing that Arsenal might have the edge over Liverpool again in the race for Bradley Barcola’s signature.
The suggestion is that the Premier League pair are deemed to be favourites to sign the Frenchman if he doesn’t pen a new deal at Paris Saint-Germain, with his existing contract set to expire in 2028.
While Morgan Rogers remains Arteta’s priority, the door might be open to pounce for Barcola, with the player, like Sanchez before him, said to favour a move to London.
Valued at around £128m, Barcola is arguably “one of the best left-wingers in Europe“, in the view of analyst Ben Mattinson, yet his future is uncertain at the Parc des Princes due to his reduced game time last term.
In a similar vein to Sanchez at Camp Nou, the 23-year-old is an undoubtedly talented winger whose only real crime is finding himself behind a stellar attacking trio, with Luis Enrique typically favouring Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Desire Doué and Ousmane Dembele over the last 18 months or so.
That’s not to say Barcola hasn’t impressed when he has featured for the two-time Champions League winners, memorably proving a real handful in May’s showpiece clash against the Gunners, a year on from almost scoring one of the great final goals following a solo run against Inter Milan.
He’s a game-changer and a match-winner, certainly similar to Sanchez in that regard, someone who can leave players for dead with his blend of pace and trickery.
In 152 games for the Ligue 1 giants to date, the former Lyon starlet has chalked up 76 goals and assists, having also scored five times in 27 games for Les Bleus, two of which came at this summer’s World Cup.
For both club and country right now, Barcola is in the shadow of other superstar forwards, but moving to Arsenal could allow him to secure talismanic status, just as Sanchez did before him.
Indeed, PSG’s ‘trash’ could prove to be the Gunners’ treasure.
