It feels like, for Arsenal, things are coming together.
This is the result of years of hard graft from Mikel Arteta and his team, having inherited a great big Emirates mess and turning the club into challengers at the top of the Premier League and Champions League.
There is a belief coursing from the manager and through the squad and out toward the Gunners faithful that this is the year Arsenal will reclaim the Premier League title, 22 years later.
This is a fantastic squad, but not without their faults. For example, the attacking third is probably the London club's weakest, with Viktor Gyokeres flattering to deceive at number nine.
But he needs more support, and Arsenal are ready to react in the transfer market.
Arsenal ready to make an attacking signing
Leandro Trossard is Arsenal's top scorer in the Premier League this season, with five goals. Arteta's men fail to scratch ther top 20 in those standings. This is both a blessing and a curse, with such strength and balance across the team, but the lack of a reliable finisher in the final third.
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta celebrates after the match
Should Gyokeres fail to kick on, Arsenal are bound to move for a new number nine at some stage, but that's one to shelve for now.
Technical director Andrea Berta may point toward Gabriel Martinelli's ongoing issues in front of goal as a point of concern for the Londoners, especially since Trossard turned 31 in December.
Gabriel Martinelli's Premier League Career
Season
25/26
24/25
23/24
22/23
21/22
20/21
19/20
Data via Transfermarkt
The 24-year-old simply isn't sharp enough, and his return of one goal in the league this season underscores that.
Berta is looking to land an upgrade, and Spanish reports have revealed that the Italian executive has opened initial talks with Paris Saint-Germain regarding the transfer of Bradley Barcola.
bradley-barcola-psg
Barcola, 23, was instrumental in PSG's quintuple-winning 2024/25 campaign, and his goal threat and creativity down the left wing have catapulted him onto elite ground. He is valued at around £87m, and Liverpool and Manchester City also contend for his signature.
How Barcola could improve Arsenal's frontline
Arsenal opted against pushing to sign Antoine Semenyo, who completed a transfer to Manchester City this week. Semenyo, a boyhood Gunner, has been one of the stars of the Premier League show this term, and he might have been a top signing for Arteta's project.
But given that City's acquisition effectively rules them out of the Barcola race, perhaps Arteta is playing the long game.
bradley-barcola-france-world-cup-qualifiers
The Les Bleus star scored 21 goals and supplied 21 assists across all competitions last term, and while he and Luis Enrique's Parisians are struggling to capture the same level this year, a return of five goals from only nine starts in Ligue 1 is nothing to be sniffed at.
Barcola is sharpening his skills. Fleet-footed and fearless on the ball, his dribbling was admittedly erratic last year, and he completed only 27% of his attempts.
That has now been rectified, or at least developed, with the Frenchman boasting a 40% success rate since the summer, as per Sofascore.
He's only getting better, whereas, conversely, Martinelli is struggling to recapture the clinical form he showed through the earlier stages of his Arsenal career, branded "clunky and indecisive" by podcaster Phil Costa earlier in the campaign.
Not only has the Brazilian lost his Midas touch in the final third, but he's struggling to create for his teammates too, ranking among the bottom 36% of wingers across Europe's top five leagues for shot-creating actions per 90.
Such creative bluntness is hardly helping someone like Gyokeres, and perhaps that's why a change is needed, bringing over the versatile and dynamic Barcola, a proper prolific and multi-faceted winger.
Bradley Barcola's Career by Position
Position
Left winger
Right winger
Centre-forward
Data via Transfermarkt
Arsenal have been the best team in the Premier League so far this season, and on the basis of averages over the past four years, probably the most consistent outfit in the division since Arteta's system took flight.
Crystal Palace's Marc Guehi looks dejected after Newcastle United's Harvey Barnes scores their third goal Related
[Arsenal have their own Guehi & he's "the best CB Hale End has produced"](https://www.footballfancast.com/arsenal-have-their-own-guehi-in-hale-end-sensation-marli-salmon/ "Arsenal have their own Guehi & he's "the best CB Hale End has produced"")
Arsenal are suffering from something of a defensive selection crisis at the moment.