Arsenal have already signed their new Trossard

Arsenal supporters had a sense that it would happen but it did not make the goodbye any easier.

After winning the Premier League title, Leandro Trossard departed the Emirates Stadium for a £17m fee, joining Turkish outfit Besiktas.

It was the right time to let him depart but the 31-year-old leaves a big hole to be filled. As the Belgian put it in his goodbye message, he has been Mr Clutch since joining the Gunners.

Make no mistake about it, the winger is a cult hero. He will be remembered affectionately, perhaps like Freddie Ljungberg, when fans talk about this title win in 20 years time.

So, how will they replace him? Well, Christos Tzolis is one way, but they have some internal solutions too.

The external solution to Trossard’s departure

Arsenal’s big aim this summer is to sign a mega-money winger. Leading target Morgan Rogers is joining Chelsea instead while the chances of another target in Bradley Barcola leaving PSG currently feels slim.

Arsenal have had to get a bit creative and they have certainly been that with the signing of Christos Tzolis. This move will not impact their pursuit of a second more glamorous winger but the important thing is that they are finally closing in on the arrival of a new forward.

Tzolis is set to fly to London on Tuesday and looks set to be officially announced as a new Arsenal player at some point this week. A £35m fee has been agreed between the Gunners and Club Brugge.

The Greek wide man was electric last season, scoring 22 goals and supplying a mammoth 29 assists. For that fee, Mikel Arteta is clearly getting a lot of talent and it could go down as one of the most underrated summer signings once all is said and done.

A regular scorer of goals and creator of chances, the 24-year-old is very much from a similar cloth as Trossard, Both diminutive, both fleet-footed and both possessiong a knack for wriggling out of tight spaces, Tzolis may not be the quickest player in the world but he’s certainly productive with his actions.

The big question, however, is will the Brugge superstar be as clutch as Trossard? Regardless of whether he is or not, Arteta may already have another man for the big moments within his ranks.

The internal solution to Trossard’s departure

Truthfully, if Gabriel Martinelli also leaves, there are not too many in-house options for Arteta. The Brazilian would be one of them but his form over the last few seasons has hardly been great. He only scored once in the Premier League last term.

Boasting a similar profile to Rogers, Eberechi Eze could also play a prominent role on the left in light of Trossard’s exit.

However, if we’re looking for clutch players in the team, it simply has to be Mikel Merino. Like the Belgian, he has already developed cult hero status at the Emirates, notably for his performances during his debut season at Arsenal.

Signed as a midfielder from Real Sociedad, this was not an acquisition that really moved the needle but boy has he been an exceptional signing.

During 2024/25, he saw out the campaign playing as a makeshfit and emergency striker when Kai Havertz and Gabriel Jesus were both injured. It is safe to say that he did a marvelous job, scoring twice against Leicester City when he came off the bench to first feature as the no.9.

Those are just two of the ten goals he has scored in 23 outings as a centre-forward for the Gunners. In that time he has also provided six assists for his teammates. It’s an astonishing record for someone who is not an out and out striker.

It’s in the high pressure moments that Merino has thrived, much like Trossard. In fact, since the former Brighton man first moved to London, no player has scored a higher percentage of game state changing goals for Arsenal than the Spaniard (91%). For context, that’s opening, equalising or winning goals in a game.

There have been countless occasions where the 30-year-old has stood up when it matters and he proved he can deliver similar results on the international stage too.

As Spain won the World Cup, Merino scored winning goals in both the last 16 and in the quarter-finals.

He was every nearly the match winner in the final too, glancing a header just wide of the target after being supplied perfectly by Nico Williams. It would have been typical of his tournament if he had found the net.

As with Trossard, the midfielder is someone you can always rely on to pop up in the big moments, he’s got the “clutch gene” as the Athletic’s Art De Roche notes.

He may not be a winger like the Belgium but as Arteta searches for someone with a similar mentality, he will realise he already has someone right in front of him.