Morning all.
Arsenal are currently on a training camp in Spain, ahead of our friendly against Girona on Saturday, and aside from training pics etc, we got our first interview with Mikel Arteta since the end of last season. The boss sat down with the official website to talk about how refreshed he’s feeling, his motivations for the new campaign, and squad building.
I think I said last week it would be really interesting to hear what he had to say about our transfer business, and I think he provided us with something to get our teeth into in that regard. He said:
A lot is happening. We all know about the context of this transfer window. From ownership to the board, the sporting director and myself, we know that we want to take this club to a different level. That is going to require a better squad, better individuals.
We have identified where we have opportunities to grow and to improve and to evolve our game and what is going to be needed to achieve that. Hopefully very soon we can start to put things in a very concrete way.
I don’t think there’s any equivocation there. You don’t need to read between the lines to know what he expects from this window. I’ve said before that he does have a bit of history of applying pressure publicly to ensure he gets what he wants, and maybe there’s a little bit of that in this answer. It’s also quite possible that he’s just being straight up about the plans they have, despite the fact from our side as fans we’re a little less convinced about how exactly that’s going to happen.
Not just a better squad, but ‘better individuals’, which I think is really interesting. You could see how that might apply to the pursuit of Vinicius Junior, for example, and maybe Julian Alvarez – although I think his situation lies between Atletico Madrid and Barcelona more than us. Some of the other names, not quite so much. Perhaps there are irons in the fire that we know nothing about, which will end up ticking that particular box. Still, he sounds sure of what this window needs to bring, and hopefully that’s what they end up doing.
The one outfield arrival thus far is Christos Tzolis, and after paying tribute to the man he’s replacing, Leandro Trossard, the manager said of the Greek international:
I think we have found a talent, a player and a personality that very rapidly everybody is going to fall in love with.
I think we all hope that’s the case. I don’t think there are too many hidden gems in football these days, but Tzolis is the kind of signing we haven’t really made during Mikel Arteta’s tenure. Any attacking arrivals have been more established, so to try and find a diamond in the rough, so to speak, is a bit of a departure and that adds a bit extra to this signing.
As a bit of an aside, as a guide to how much the market has shifted in the last few years, we paid more or less the same for Tzolis in 2026 as we did for multiple Premier League winner Gabriel Jesus in 2022. Different circumstances, of course, but just as an illustration of how prices have changed, I thought it was quite notable – and if you need a bit more Gabriel Jesus, Tim’s column this week touches on the Brazilian’s career through the lens of the World Cup.
Meanwhile, in less promising news, Jurrien Timber has left the training camp as he continues to struggle with a groin problem. Reportedly he had a minor procedure after he left the Netherlands World Cup squad, so it’s a bit of a worry, even if the BBC report that this is just part of his rehabilitation schedule, and he’ll head back to Spain to rejoin the group.
The right side of our defence has a real question mark over it right now. Timber’s ongoing issue, William Saliba’s ‘extended absence’, and Ben White’s recovery from a knee injury last season (as well as his injury issues in the last couple of seasons), leave us a little less solid than we need to be. It seems Arsenal aren’t inclined to give Aston Villa what they want for Ezri Konsa, and that’s a situation where I think holding firm to our valuation is the right thing to do, but there’s no doubt in my mind we need somebody to add more depth.
I saw reports suggesting renewed interest in Ivan Fresneda, Sporting’s Spanish right-back, and a player we’d been strongly linked with in the past. In 2023, he was tipped to join after a conversation with Mikel Arteta, so perhaps that’s the way we’re going to go with this – adding a 21 year old with plenty of room to develop and improve, rather than a 28 year old who is probably too expensive to ultimately become a back-up player.
Saturday’s game against Girona might tell us a thing or two about what the manager’s plans are, but at this point in pre-season it’s too early to be 100% sure of anything. I do expect something to happen here before the close of the window though, and given our defensive platform is so foundational to how we play, the sooner the better to give that player time to bed in and understand how we operate.
Righto, let’s leave it there for now. We’ll have an Arsecast for you at some point this afternoon, but for now, have a good one.