How Arsenal could seal their most exciting signing since Declan Rice

At a mighty £105m, Declan Rice looks like a bargain. Arsenal supporters often joke the club should chuck West Ham another £100m.

Based on how this summer is playing out, that point becomes even more poignant. Elliot Anderson and Morgan Rogers have moved for £116m and £117m respectively.

Are they better than Rice three years ago? It’s difficult to suggest they are. The fee the Gunners paid looks better business by the week.

Since coming to north London, he has been a colossal figure for Mikel Arteta, a centre-piece of the project. He is surely their best addition of the Emirates era and indeed the Arteta era.

Why Rice is Arsenal’s best signing under Arteta

Can you remember Arteta’s first summer window in charge of the Gunners? No? Well, we’ll give you a reminder. It went a little like this.

Thomas Partey was the marquee addition and he was further joined by Gabriel Magalhaes. The Brazilian has become one of the best defenders in the world since arriving. He certainly rivals Rice for Arteta’s best acquisition.

Cedric Soares, Willian, Pablo Mari and Alex Runarsson also joined that season. How times have changed, eh?

Arsenal’s recruitment has certainly got a lot better since then. A year later they welcomed Ben White, Aaron Ramsdale, Martin Odegaard and Takehiro Tomiyasu to the the Emirates. In 2022/23, Gabriel Jesus and Oleksandr Zinchenko both arrived and helped transform the club’s style of play.

Then came the summer of 2023, the year Rice arrived. He was welcomed alongside David Raya, Jurrien Timber and Kai Havertz. It is undoubtedly the best set of signings Arsenal have secured under Arteta’s leadership.

Following that, the Gunners have added the likes of Riccardo Calafiori, Eberechi Eze and Viktor Gyokeres but truthfully, no one comes close to Rice.

He is one of the best midfielders in the world, a total game-changer. He has gone from being more of a reserved holding midfielder to a box-crashing number 8. In 2024/25, he scored as many as nine goals, the most he has ever registered in a single season.

The 27-year-old then cemented himself as one of the best set-piece takers and passers in the land last term with nine assists, just one shy of the ten he managed the campaign before.

Now, three years on from that signing, the Kroenkes and Andrea Berta are attempting to move the needle again.

How Arsenal can repeat their Rice masterclass in 2026

Arsenal need a midfielder this summer. The likes of Bruno Guimaraes and Alex Scott continue to be linked. However, what Arteta’s side really requires to go to the next level is an elite winger.

How the 2025/26 campaign played out really rubberstamped that. The north Londoners were phenomenal at the back but struggled to score goals, notably against low blocks.

The Gunners scored 25 of their 71 league goals from set-pieces. 19 of those, a Premier League seasonal record, came from corners. There was certainly an overreliance on those situations. After all, they won eight of their matches 1-0, their highest total in a single campaign since 1998/99.

As a result, they need to go big on a forward. They need their answer to Rice but out on the flanks. They have missed out on Morgan Rogers, now of Chelsea, but could make up for that by landing Yan Diomande from RB Leipzig.

Still only 19 years of age, there may well be concerns regarding the raweness of Diomande’s game. He’s hardly experienced but he is an electrifying talent, one of the best and most exciting wide players in the world right now.

Valued at around £101m, Arsenal are in fresh talks with his agents over a move, according to TEAMtalk but are met with several complicating factors, not least the fact that he wants to join PSG, but also the fact that Liverpool and Manchester City have also made approaches of their own.

Why do Europe’s elite want him? Well, he scored 13 goals and registered ten assists last season so he’s got the end product to match his fearless and direct style of play.

For Leipzig last term, he made 4.29 dribbles per 90 minutes and completed 5.63 progressive carries per 90. Those numbers put him in the top 3% of wingers in Europe’s top five leagues for those metrics. He’s simply an elite-level carrier of the ball.

Why would this benefit Arsenal? Well, they need not just end product from the left, something that was not too forthcoming last season, but also a maverick. They need their answer to Bukayo Saka from the opposite flank and in the young Ivorian they could find just that.

In 2025/26, Leandro Trossard scored eight goals in all competitions but only one of those came in 2026. For Gabriel Martinelli, he netted 11 times but scored just once in the Premier League.

Couple that with their ball-carrying and it’s clear to see why Diomande could be such a transformative signing. Last term, Trossard completed 1.12 successful dribbles and Martinelli managed 1.85 per 90. The difference is night and day.

For so long Arsenal have been crying out for an elite left winger and while the Leipzig superstar is still young, he is well on his way to becoming a world-class talent.

Just like when Rice arrived to bolster the midfield, this feels like it could be a similarly needle-moving acquisition. The club’s attack would look more complete than it ever has done under the currrent manager.