By Rob Worthington (Deputy Editor)
Yesterday was a sad day for the Arsenal. Off the back of a season of great highs, Arsenal hit a heavy low. A 4-1 defeat at the Etihad bore shades of the club’s recent past failures. It brought many Arsenal fans around the world with big dreams back down to earth. Every Arsenal fan would be lying to themselves if at some point this season, they did not truly believe their team would go on to win the club’s first Premier League title in two decades. Mikel Arteta’s men have provided many young Arsenal fans with their best ever memories as Gooners. It appears unlikely now that one of those memories from this season will prove to be Arsenal captain Martin Ødegaard lifting the Premier League trophy at the Emirates Stadium in May. Arteta’s men will probably fall just short. However, Arsenal’s rise from the shadows is far from over. A sleeping giant is awake once again. After year upon year of mediocrity, a mere scent of greatness will not fill the hungry belly of one of the world’s great football clubs. There’s plenty more to come at Arsenal whilst Mikel Arteta is at the helm. Fanbases from opposing clubs seem to be reluctant to accept this. Some are even doubting whether Arsenal will finish in the top four next season. Many believe this as close as they’ll come to bringing the Premier League trophy back to north London. Such a theory isn’t unfounded. After all, Arsenal’s recent history has been characterised by failure. They came relatively close to winning the league in 2016, but thereafter slipped even deeper into the shadows they had occupied since the Invincible season of 2003/04. But this era of Arsenal Football Club is different. All rational thought tells us that the Gunners will be back even stronger next term. If Arsenal did go on to win the title this season, they would have won it with the youngest squad ever to achieve such an accolade. The great thing about having a young squad? It is only going to get better with age. The north London outfit already possess one of the world’s best winger pairings in Gabriel Martinelli and Bukayo Saka. Both players are just 21. The defensive partnership of William Saliba (22) and Gabriel Magalhaes (25) has also arguably been the best on the continent this term, backed up by 24-year-old Aaron Ramsdale who has gone from strength to strength this season. Not to mention 24-year-old skipper Martin Ødegaard who has enjoyed the best season of his career this term, contributing towards 19 goals for Arsenal. These guys are beginning to mature now and are all either tied down to or are close to signing long-term deals. How can a team with such burgeoning and budding talent just fade away? They won’t. But Wednesday’s showing at Manchester City showed this core group of talent alone won’t offer enough quality to cement Arsenal’s position at the pinnacle of English football. Internally, it’ll be known action is required to propel Arsenal into the exclusive circle of Europe’s elite. Such action must involve dipping back into the transfer market for the Gunners. Arteta’s midfield, the cornerstone of his success this term, quite clearly requires surgery. Arsenal’s experience in the middle of the park has been something of an Achilles heel to the team rather than a parachute. It does not offer a title winning team what it needs. Two signings are needed in midfield. Wednesday and the Premier League games which came before it have shown these signings need to be physically imposing and agile. One of those players must be Declan Rice. The 24-year-old would prove to be the statement signing Arsenal require to move on from Thomas Partey. It’d appear Mikel Arteta would like his second midfield signing to be Moises Caicedo. Few would be against signing the Ecuadorian. He’d offer all the nous Granit Xhaka already offers in the left 8 alongside superior technical quality and mobility. Caicedo and Rice would be able to offer Arsenal everything their midfield currently lacks. But if Arsenal want to rise to the very, very top, the recruitment can’t finish there. A defender will inevitably be signed in order to prevent reliance on Rob Holding who has proven he cannot be trusted to perform at the level an elite team requires. And if Arsenal really mean business this summer, they’ll also sign a superstar forward. Arteta’s project at Arsenal deserves a superstar addition. And the gap to Manchester City which seems pretty seismic right now would be all but slammed shut if they were to add a player of the calibre of any one of Rafa Leao, Victor Osimhen, or dare I say, Kylian Mbappé. Raise your eyebrows all you like at the mere mention of such superstar names. However, given Arsenal’s successes this season and their confirmed return to the UEFA Champions League, this is the market the Gunners should and will be shopping in. And if Arsenal are able to capture the signatures of a few of the aforementioned stars, well, they won’t be going anywhere any time soon. Fellow Premier League clubs may strengthen this summer, but Arsenal’s squad is already some way ahead of the likes of Manchester United and Liverpool. It is the job of the Gunners’ recruitment team this summer to ensure they aren’t caught. By all accounts, the groundwork is already being laid. Wednesday hurt. But if you think Arsenal’s rise is over, I repeat, think again…
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