Arsenal sit top of the Premier League table as the winter transfer window shuts and manager Mikel Arteta has made his feelings clear on the club’s transfer business
Mikel Arteta speaking at an Arsenal press conference in 2025(Image: NurPhoto, NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Arsenal enter transfer deadline day as the team to catch in the Premier League but their winter activity could prove crucial in determining whether they maintain that position. If they require a reminder of how detrimental a quiet January can be, they need only reflect on events 12 months ago.
Boss Mikel Arteta and sporting director Andrea Berta recognised reinforcements were essential over the summer if the Gunners’ were to mount another title challenge. However, Arteta seemed acutely aware of these needs even earlier.
When Arsenal thrashed Manchester City 5-1 on February 2 last year, they trailed league leaders Liverpool by six points having played one match more than Arne Slot’s side. Their attacking options looked worryingly limited, though, with Gabriel Jesus sustaining a season-ending injury in January and question marks over how quickly Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli would return to top form after lay-offs of their own.
This left Kai Havertz with precious little competition for places. Arsenal made a belated approach for Aston Villa and England forward Ollie Watkins but couldn’t get a move over the line – capping off a frustrating month.
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“We had a clear intention, which is always there is a window open to explore the opportunities to improve our squad with players that can impact it,” Arteta said when asked about the lack of additions. “We haven’t achieved it so we are disappointed in that sense but as well we are very aware that we only want to bring certain kind of players and we have to be very disciplined with that as well and I think that we will.
He was also asked if the quiet end to the window represented Arsenal gambling in their title pursuit, responding: “It’s not a gamble, it’s reality. I think we have to face the reality as well that we have. We have the players that we have, some of them are on loan.
“We’ve never had a squad of 35, 40, 45 players. So many other clubs, they have 45 players in their list. We don’t have that size at the moment. It’s our reality. We have to do so much in the last few years that’s where we are.
“So we’re going to have to evolve there as well and have more and have more players from the academy and the ones that are here to be fitted longer. That’s a job that is permanent and it keeps evolving and we need to be on our toes.”
Arsenal didn’t sign a new striker despite Gabriel Jesus’ ACL injury(Image: GLYN KIRK, AFP via Getty Images)
Ultimately, we’ll never know whether the addition of Watkins or a similar target would have been enough to help Arsenal close the gap at the top and put more pressure on Liverpool. Havertz picked up a nightmare injury while the Gunners were away on a warm-weather training camp in mid-February and wouldn’t return to action until the final two games of the season.
By then, Arteta’s team had suffered more damaging results including home defeats to West Ham and Bournemouth. Even the return of Saka and Martinelli – along with some key goals from stand-in striker Mikel Merino – couldn’t bridge the gap.
Arsenal still finished second but there was a 10-point gap to champions Liverpool, while Paris Saint-Germain ended the team’s Champions League hopes despite Arteta’s depleted squad impressing against Real Madrid in the quarter-finals. Arsenal are already in a stronger position than this time last year due to their summer spending but others are in better shape as well so only time will tell when it comes to whether history might repeat itself.
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