Arsenal’s summer transfer business is complete, with Mikel Arteta emerging from another huge rebuild with a stronger defence, an extraordinary midfield and enough quality to defend the Premier League title.
But the final verdict cannot be completely positive.
Arsenal have spent at least £198.5million on Bruno Guimarães, Ezri Konsa, Piero Hincapié and Christos Tzolis alone, yet they have finished the window without the elite attacking addition they spent the final weeks chasing. Sky Sports lists those four deals at £75m, £55m, £34.5m and £34m respectively.
After Julian Alvarez said no and Arsenal walked away from Malick Fofana, Arteta is betting that the champions already possess enough firepower.
It is a calculated gamble, but it is still a gamble.
This transfer window hasn’t hit the heights we were all promised, but don’t get mistaken this is still Arsenal Football Club with Mikel Arteta at the helm.
Put us up against anyone in the world and I’ll still believe we’ll win. That’s what Mikel Arteta has created. A winning… pic.twitter.com/DD3Kfm7Tt4
— now.arsenal (@now_arsenaI) September 1, 2026
Arsenal have built an outrageous midfield
Bruno Guimarães is arguably Arsenal’s signing of the summer.
The Brazilian cost £75m from Newcastle and arrived as an established Premier League midfielder capable of contributing immediately rather than another player requiring a season to adapt.
Put Guimarães into a group containing Declan Rice, Martin Zubimendi, Martin Ødegaard, Eberechi Eze, Mikel Merino and Myles Lewis-Skelly and Arteta now has enormous flexibility.
That was visible at Villa Park on Sunday.
Guimarães started on the bench and Arsenal still won 1-0, with Eze coming on at half-time and helping create Bukayo Saka’s winner.
There are very few midfield combinations Arteta cannot now create.
Arsenal have strengthened an already elite defence
Ezri Konsa and Hincapié give Arteta even greater defensive depth.
Konsa cost £55m from Aston Villa, while Hincapié arrived from Bayer Leverkusen for £34.5m.
They join William Saliba, Gabriel Magalhães, Riccardo Calafiori, Ben White and Jurrien Timber among the senior defensive options.
That is not simply depth for the sake of it.
Arsenal are competing to win the Premier League again while going deeper in Europe. Arteta complained only days ago about having to omit senior players because Premier League matchday squads are limited to 20, which says plenty about the level of depth now available.
The champions should be able to survive injuries without the dramatic drop-off that has hurt previous title challenges.
Tzolis now carries more responsibility
The interesting part is attack.
Christos Tzolis arrived for £34m following an outstanding season at Club Brugge, where he produced 17 goals and 23 assists in 36 league appearances.
Initially, the Greek international looked like the direct replacement for Leandro Trossard.
His role now feels bigger.
Gabriel Jesus has completed an £8.6m move to Barcelona after scoring 32 goals in 123 Arsenal appearances, while Fabio Vieira has joined Hamburg permanently for £7.7m.
Gabriel Martinelli is also heading towards Al-Hilal after Arsenal agreed to sell him, while Ethan Nwaneri is moving away on loan.
Arsenal have therefore removed significant attacking depth while choosing not to make one final addition.
That puts more pressure on Tzolis to deliver immediately.
Arsenal were right not to panic over Alvarez
The temptation would have been enormous.
Arsenal spent the final stages of the window pursuing Julian Alvarez, with Arteta personally attempting to convince him to return to England.
We reported how Arteta made a personal push to sign Alvarez before the striker ultimately decided to remain at Atletico Madrid.
Arsenal were also offered another route through Malick Fofana.
The club explored the Lyon winger, Arteta spoke to him and there was a realistic opportunity to complete the deal, but Arsenal eventually walked away from the proposed Fofana transfer.
That restraint deserves credit.
Sky Sports reported before deadline day that Arsenal were happy with their squad and would not simply move on to any forward if Alvarez could not be signed. They wanted an elite player or nothing.
They have stuck to that position.
A panic signing at 10pm would not automatically have made the squad better.
The gamble Arteta is making
The question is what happens if Arsenal lose Saka for six weeks.
Or if Viktor Gyökeres is unavailable during a brutal Champions League period.
Or if Tzolis needs several months to adjust.
The options still look strong.
Saka, Gyökeres, Kai Havertz, Tzolis, Eze and Noni Madueke provide different attacking profiles, while Ødegaard can operate higher.
But the departures have removed some insurance.
That’s particularly significant because Arsenal had enough money and enough ambition to investigate Alvarez right until the end.
The club clearly believed another elite attacker could improve the squad.
They simply decided there was nobody else worth compromising for when Alvarez became impossible.
Arsenal transfer window verdict: 8.5/10
This has been an excellent window, not a perfect one.
Bruno Guimarães: elite signing.
Ezri Konsa: proven Premier League quality.
Piero Hincapié: excellent defensive depth and versatility.
Christos Tzolis: exciting production with room to improve further.
Arsenal have also been decisive in moving players out rather than allowing expensive squad members to stagnate. Jesus and Vieira are already gone, while the wider restructuring has generated significant income. Arsenal are even set for another £6.7m through Folarin Balogun’s Everton move because of their sell-on clause, as Read Arsenal reported on deadline day.
The squad is deeper.
The midfield is better.
The defence might be the deepest in the country.
And Arsenal resisted the urge to sign somebody simply because deadline day demanded theatre.
The only reason this is not a nine or ten is the attack.
Arteta wanted one more elite forward. He didn’t get one.
If Arsenal retain the title, nobody will care.
If injuries expose the reduced attacking depth later in the season, the final hours of this window will be revisited very quickly.
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