Arsenal sign Tottenham target and former Wolves star in bold summer transfer window predictionplaceholder image
Arsenal sign Tottenham target and former Wolves star in bold summer transfer window prediction | Getty Images
A look at what Arsenal’s summer transfer window could look like - according to Football Manager 2026.
Whether or not Arsenal end up as Premier League champions come the end of the season, they’re likely to be quite busy in the summer transfer window. They may be top of the table, but the team still has its flaws and is currently on course for the lowest points total of any title winner since Leicester City a decade ago.
Expect some money to be spent over the off-season, then – but exactly who will the Gunners buy? We decided to get a guess from the most accurate simulation of the footballing future available to us, Football Manager 2026, and span a save a few months into the future to find out who might be strutting their stuff at the Emirates next season…
Arsenal spend £116m in summer transfer window – according to Football Manager
In our virtual future, Arsenal certainly didn’t keep the purse strings tight in pursuit of further silverware – and made a particularly strong splash in midfield.
The Gunners signed three new central midfielders for the team, which would probably create a pretty serious logjam at the position given the resources already in place. Few could argue with the quality of the signings, however, at least on paper.
The single biggest splash was to spend £41.5m on Borussia Dortmund’s Felix Nmecha, brother of Leeds forward Lukas and supposedly a real-life transfer target for old rivals Tottenham Hotspur. Perhaps Arsenal will repeat the trick they pulled off with Eberechi Eze a few months back this year, too.
They also spent £34.5m on VfB Stuttgart’s Angelo Stiller, a player linked with Manchester United last summer, adding another Declan Rice-style engine room player to the squad. On top of that, Arsenal rather shrewdly snapped up former Wolves man Rúben Neves on a free transfer from Al-Hilal, a move that both United and Real Madrid are supposedly debating in the real world.
Another free agent added to the Arsenal squad was back-up goalkeeper Leopold Zingerle, currently a reserve option at RB Leipzig, while the Gunners also splashed out £40m to make the signing of Piero Hincapié permanent.
In real life, this would be a pretty strange transfer window. A new midfielder is something Arsenal want, but three would simply be excessive, especially as none could naturally operate as a number 10 – and surely the genuine Gunners will want to add some firepower at centre-forward or on the left flank.
Leandro Trossard among players to leave
The lack of depth out wide would only be compounded by our virtual Mikel Arteta’s decision to let Leandro Trossard leave – the Belgian winger is off to Everton for £32m, according to FM26.
Other familiar faces on their way out would apparently include Jakub Kiwior, who completes a permanent move to Porto, while Reiss Nelson – currently failing to make a dent on loan at Brentford – moves to Aston Villa for £13.5m.
Depth goalkeeper Karl Hein is also down to leave the Emirates for £1.3mm, with Saudi side Al-Najmah taking him on. Youngsters Ismael Kaeba and Harrison Dudziak also both depart on a free in our save.
So the squad would largely look pretty similar, but with several problems up front left unaddressed – and a glut of midfielders on the books giving Arteta selection headaches. Let’s see if Arsenal’s real-world transfer business is a little smarter…
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