While Arsenal's inability to win a trophy last season very much boiled down to a lack of a centre-forward, a lack of squad depth can also be attributed to that.
The Gunners suffered plenty of injury blows throughout 2024/25. At one stage, they were missing all of their senior centre forwards while Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard were absent for large parts of the campaign too.
Saka-Odegaard-Lewis-Skelly
Truth be told, things haven't been much better in that regard during the ongoing season. Viktor Gyokeres, Kai Havertz and Gabriel Jesus have all missed football, while all of the backline, Myles Lewis-Skelly aside, have missed matches through injury.
Therefore, it's just as well Andrea Berta acted with intent to strengthen Mikel Arteta's squad last summer.
How Andrea Berta has transformed Arsenal's squad
When Berta arrived at Arsenal in March 2025, he knew he had one primary job. That was to sign Arsenal a striker.
Well, you can put a tick in that checkbox. While the Gunners tracked Benjamin Sesko - who ended up at Manchester United - they ended up concluding a deal for Gyokeres.
The Swede appeared to be the missing piece of the puzzle. Every man, woman, child and their dog knew that Arteta needed a new striker and here he was, fresh off the back of scoring 54 goals in 52 games for Sporting last season.
Gyokeres 2024-25 season in numbers (timeless) (1)
However, life has been a bit more difficult for Gyokeres during his time in the English capital. In all honesty, the striker looked like a catastrophic waste of money, a player who didn't deserve to wear the famous #14 jersey.
Well, he's now beginning to prove people wrong. The £63.5m acquisition has scored eight goals in his last 12 games and delivered his finest performance in red and white yet when Arsenal defeated arch-rivals Spurs 4-1. Gyokeres was on the scoresheet twice, bullying the Tottenham backline.
To be honest, the jury has actually been out on a lot of Berta's first signings. Noni Madueke has flattered to deceive after his £52m move across London, scoring just two Premier League goals in 19 appearances. Meanwhile, much like Gyokeres, Eberechi Eze looked like a waste of money.
Signed from Crystal Palace to much fanfare, the England international scored a devastating hat-trick in the first north London derby of the season back in November but went 18 games between that one and Sunday's win without scoring. He bagged twice at the weekend. There's something about Spurs that makes him come alive.
Eze-Rice-Arsenal
Arsenal fans will no doubt be searching for more consistency from that trio, but importantly, it has added the necessary depth that Arteta didn't have last season. Saying that, it's further back where Arsenal have benefited most from Berta's work.
Martin Zubimendi has played more minutes than any outfield player at the club, a testament to how good a signing he has been. Meanwhile, Piero Hincapie's performances are getting better by the week. He bagged his first goal for the club against Wolves and dropped arguably his best performance since arriving against Spurs.
That said, Berta's best signing was perhaps one of his cheapest.
£13m signing is the best of the lot for Arsenal
Last summer was a remarkable show of intent from Arsenal in the transfer market, spending big sums on the likes of Eze, Gyokeres, Zubimendi and Madueke.
However, Berta and Arteta did ensure that a few cheaper deals were completed. Back-up goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga signed for just £5m from Chelsea, Christian Norgaard was welcomed for £15m and most impressively, Cristian Mosquera arrived in a mere £13m deal.
Arsenal summer transfer window 2025 (timeless - Gyokeres, Eze, Zubimendi, Mosquera, Madueke)
It's safe to say that the move now looks like a robbery. Arsenal pulled off one of the great heists to lure the young defender away from Valencia.
It was a rather understated move at the time but it's quickly becoming something of a masterstroke. In an era where transfer fees are significantly inflated, this looks like a remarkable piece of business.
Mosquera-Trossard-Arsenal
Aged 21, the centre-back may have only played 21 games and 553 Premier League minutes for Arsenal, but in the words of analyst Spencer Mossman, he is already "on his way to becoming one of the best centre-backs in the world."
Why? Well, he boasts the best traits of both William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhaes. Like Gabriel, he's got that warrior spirit, an aggression to his game that scares attackers. However, like Saliba, he's also got the poise and grace of an elite-level central defender.
Mosquera vs Arsenal centre-backs in 25/26
Stat (per 90 mins)
Passes completed
Pass accuracy
Aerial duels won
Ground duels won
Duels won
Interceptions
Touches
Ball recoveries
Mosquera has not put a foot wrong since moving to England and he set the tone with a brilliant performance against Liverpool back in August.
Saliba hobbled off early on with an injury and even though Arsenal lost, Mosquera deputised admirably, completing 92% of his passes and winning four of his five duels.
While the young defender may not have been the first choice this season, whenever he's been needed to come in due to injury, he's been near faultless.
Not just capable of dominating from central areas, Mosquera demonstrated his versatility by delivering a fine performance from right-back against Spurs last weekend.
The youngster came on for the final 33 minutes, replacing Jurrien Timber and locking down the game on the right-hand side with absolute ease. The former Valencia man won all five of his duels and only lost possession three times from his 18 touches of the ball late in the game.
It was evidence that Arteta has a mighty fine defender on his hands, perhaps even one of the best young players in European football.
Mosquera-Arsenal-Enzo-Fernandez-Chelsea
They were very different times indeed, but this is a move that has echoes of Patrick Vieira and Thierry Henry. Relative unknowns at the time, they arrived for £3.5m and £11m respectively before becoming two of the finest players we've ever seen in Premier League history.
While we're not suggesting Mosquera will be cast in bronze outside the Emirates Stadium once he retires, he is cut from a similar cloth. A young, unknown player when he arrived, he's got that Vieira-like spirit that will undoubtedly carry him to stardom in north London. It might not be too far to suggest he's a future captain in the making too. He radiates confidence and has an aura about him that not many possess.
If he does truly become one of the best in the world, as Mossman predicts, then the Gunners may well have a £100m talent on their hands here.
Saliba has already been valued at that price tag amid interest from Real Madrid, so it's not out of the realm of possibility.
Odegaard-Saka-Arsenal-Hincapie Related
[Arteta must drop Arsenal star who's "one of the best Emirates era signings"](https://www.footballfancast.com/arteta-must-drop-arsenal-star-jurrien-timber-after-spurs/ "Arteta must drop Arsenal star who's "one of the best Emirates era signings"")
Arsenal need to make a few changes despite defeating Spurs.