Arsenal spent £198.5million on four major senior additions this summer, but the real impact of Mikel Arteta’s rebuild goes beyond the transfer fees. There is now a new hierarchy inside a squad trying to defend the Premier League title.
Bruno Guimarães arrived for £75m, Ezri Konsa cost £55m, Arsenal made Piero Hincapié’s move permanent for £34.5m and Christos Tzolis joined for £34m. Arsenal also added Illan Meslier on a free transfer and invested in younger players.
Sky Sports’ complete Arsenal transfer list confirms those four headline fees alone total £198.5m.
The exits were almost as important.
Gabriel Jesus joined Barcelona, Leandro Trossard left for Besiktas, Ethan Nwaneri moved to Borussia Dortmund on loan and Gabriel Martinelli has now completed a £60m move to Al-Hilal.
Our complete Arsenal summer transfer round-up covers the individual deals, while the existing Arsenal transfer-window verdict examines whether Arteta did enough overall.
This is different.
Who actually gained status because of Arsenal’s summer? And who is suddenly fighting for fewer minutes?
Winner: Eberechi Eze
Eze might be the biggest beneficiary despite Arsenal not signing him this summer.
The England international joined in 2025, but the group around him has changed dramatically.
Martinelli and Trossard have gone. Jesus has left. Nwaneri is spending the season in Germany.
That creates significantly more attacking responsibility for Eze.
We already saw the first sign of it at Villa Park.
Arteta removed Tzolis at half-time and introduced Eze. Arsenal improved, and Eze played the pass which released Riccardo Calafiori in the move for Bukayo Saka’s winner. Arsenal’s official report credits the second-half change with helping Arteta’s side find the breakthrough.
We examined the selection consequences immediately in our Eze and Chelsea analysis.
Chat, who would you rather start on the left wing against Chelsea?
Tzolis or Eze? pic.twitter.com/Uku2qgNDYK
— WelBeast (@WelBeast) September 2, 2026
Eze can play from the left, as a No.10 or deeper when Arteta wants another creative midfielder.
After Arsenal allowed so many attackers to leave, he has gone from excellent squad option to one of the players Arteta may increasingly need to build attacks around.
Verdict: Major winner.
Winner: Ezri Konsa
Few £55m signings will expect their importance to increase before they have even made their first start.
That has happened to Konsa.
Arsenal wanted defensive reinforcement because William Saliba and Jurrien Timber entered the season injured. Konsa then made his debut at Aston Villa when Cristhian Mosquera was forced off.
He helped Arsenal close out the 1-0 victory against his former club.
Mosquera has subsequently missed open training ahead of Chelsea, while Saliba remains sidelined and Timber is still rebuilding his fitness.
Suddenly Konsa is not simply expensive depth.
He could start one of Arsenal’s biggest early-season matches only weeks after joining.
The England international also offers Arteta options at centre-back and right-back, which becomes increasingly valuable once the Champions League starts.
Our latest Arsenal injury guide explains how quickly that defensive picture has changed.
Verdict: Immediate winner.
Winner: Myles Lewis-Skelly
Arsenal’s £75m move for Guimarães could easily have been viewed as bad news for Lewis-Skelly.
Instead, his position remains fascinating.
The academy graduate has continued to feature prominently despite Arsenal building an extraordinary collection of midfield options.
Rice, Guimarães, Martin Zubimendi, Martin Ødegaard, Mikel Merino and Eze can all occupy central positions.
Yet Lewis-Skelly has still been trusted.
That tells us something about Arteta’s view of him.
His ability to receive under pressure, carry through midfield and operate in more than one tactical role gives Arsenal something different from simply selecting their most expensive players.
The arrival of Guimarães increases the competition.
It has not removed Lewis-Skelly from the conversation.
Our Arsenal predicted XI against Chelsea currently has him retaining his place alongside Rice.
Verdict: His status has survived Arsenal’s spending spree. That makes him a winner.
Winner: Kai Havertz
Arsenal’s attacking departures have strengthened Havertz’s position more than people may initially realise.
Jesus has gone permanently.
Martinelli has now departed.
Trossard has left.
Nwaneri is on loan.
Arsenal spent the final stages of the window looking for another elite attacker but ultimately failed to complete one. The Guardian’s post-window analysis highlights how Arsenal strengthened midfield and defence while leaving the attacking group thinner than anticipated.
Havertz therefore remains hugely important.
He still faces direct competition from Viktor Gyökeres, but Arteta continues to value the German’s movement, link play and ability to occupy several attacking positions.
Who do YOU want to see start as ST for #Arsenal vs #Chelsea this weekend?! 🤔 ⚽️
RT for Havertz 🇩🇪 Like for Gyokeres 🇸🇪 pic.twitter.com/u1M8ebsz54
— Arsenal News Channel (@Arsenalnewschan) September 2, 2026
Jesus’ departure in particular removes an experienced senior centre-forward from that battle. Reuters reported that the Brazilian had already fallen behind Havertz and Gyökeres before completing his £8.6m Barcelona transfer.
Our Gabriel Jesus exit story explains how far the Brazilian had fallen in Arteta’s hierarchy.
Havertz now has the chance to cement the opposite position.
Verdict: Quiet winner.
Winner: Max Dowman
Nwaneri leaving Arsenal temporarily creates an opportunity below the established first team too.
Dowman has already demonstrated that he can influence senior matches.
The teenager scored from distance during Arsenal’s 4-1 pre-season victory over Girona after earlier helping create Havertz’s opener.
Arsenal’s own academy coverage has also highlighted that Dowman remains young enough to potentially break the Premier League record for its youngest goalscorer this season.
Nobody should expect him to replace Nwaneri immediately.
But the route towards benches, cup appearances and selected Premier League minutes has become clearer.
That could be particularly important because Arsenal did not complete the late attacking signing they explored.
If Arteta wants an internal solution at certain points this season, Dowman’s name will be difficult to ignore.
Verdict: Long-term winner.
Loser: Gabriel Martinelli
This is the clearest example of Arsenal’s hierarchy changing completely.
Martinelli was once one of Arteta’s automatic attacking selections.
He leaves Arsenal for Al-Hilal in a deal worth around £60m, a club-record sale according to The Guardian.
The fee represents excellent business from Arsenal’s perspective.
But purely in terms of his position inside Arteta’s squad, Martinelli lost.
His minutes had already become less secure. Arsenal invested in alternative attacking profiles, Eze could operate from the left and Tzolis arrived this summer.
Eventually Arsenal were prepared to sanction the Brazilian’s departure.
That should not diminish what Martinelli achieved after joining from Ituano in 2019.
It simply underlines how ruthless squad evolution can become at a club trying to remain champions.
Verdict: Biggest hierarchy loser, even if the transfer itself suits everyone.
Loser: Ethan Nwaneri
Nwaneri’s situation is different because Arsenal have not sold him.
A Borussia Dortmund loan could ultimately be an outstanding development decision.
But it also reveals the reality of Arsenal’s current squad.
The 19-year-old needed regular football.
Finding enough of it in north London was becoming increasingly difficult.
The Guardian reported before the season that Nwaneri was outside the immediate first-team picture, and he ultimately completed a season-long switch to Dortmund.
Look at the positions he might otherwise occupy.
Ødegaard is captain.
Saka owns the right wing when fit.
Eze can operate centrally.
Arsenal then spent £75m on Guimarães while already possessing Rice and Zubimendi.
For Nwaneri’s development, leaving makes sense.
Good luck on loan, Ethan ❤️
Ethan Nwaneri has joined Bundesliga side Borussia Dortmund until the end of the season 👇
— Arsenal (@Arsenal) September 1, 2026
For his short-term Arsenal hierarchy, however, it is impossible to call the summer a victory.
Verdict: Short-term loser, with a loan that could create a long-term win.
Loser: Mikel Merino
Merino may be the player most directly affected by Arsenal signing Guimarães.
The Spain international remains extremely useful.
He provides physicality, experience and tactical flexibility, while his contributions during Arsenal’s title-winning campaign should not be forgotten.
But the midfield has become brutally competitive.
Guimarães did not move for £75m to sit permanently on the bench.
Rice remains fundamental.
Zubimendi offers elite control at the base of midfield.
Ødegaard is captain.
Lewis-Skelly continues to command Arteta’s trust.
Suddenly Merino looks much more like a rotation player than someone pushing for a guaranteed Premier League start.
That could change quickly through injuries or tactical requirements.
But if everyone is fit, he is probably several places further away from Arsenal’s strongest midfield than he was before the summer.
Verdict: Most obvious established-player loser.
Loser: Christos Tzolis
Calling a £34m summer signing a loser after two Premier League games would normally be ridiculous.
There is a reason he makes this list.
It is about competition, not judgement.
Tzolis arrived brightly. He scored during pre-season against Girona and spoke positively about the intensity of competition inside Arsenal’s squad.
Then came Villa Park.
Matty Cash made life extremely difficult for him and Arteta acted decisively, replacing Tzolis at half-time.
Eze came on.
Arsenal improved.
Saka eventually scored.
That has immediately created a selection debate for Chelsea, which we covered in our Gary Neville and Tzolis story.
Tzolis has plenty of time to win the shirt back.
But the exits of Martinelli and Trossard appeared to create a clear pathway for Arsenal’s new winger.
Eze has already complicated it.
Verdict: Early loser, but potentially the easiest one to reverse.
Arsenal’s rebuild has created a far more ruthless squad
This is ultimately what £198.5m buys.
Not simply new players.
Competition.
Konsa’s arrival puts pressure on existing defenders.
Guimarães makes an already crowded midfield even harder to enter.
The attacking departures have increased the importance of Eze and Havertz while opening a possible pathway for Dowman.
At the same time, established players such as Merino can no longer assume previous status will protect their minutes.
That is the real test of Arsenal’s window.
We already argued in our full transfer-window verdict that the failure to land another elite attacker leaves Arteta with one significant risk.
The other side of the argument is powerful.
Across midfield and defence, Arsenal can now leave extremely expensive, highly accomplished players on the bench without substantially weakening the side.
Arteta wanted a squad capable of fighting on several fronts.
He has it.
The difficult part begins now: keeping that squad happy while deciding who actually deserves to play.
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Arsenal’s £198.5m summer is brilliant but Arteta has taken one big risk
Arsenal’s £198.5m summer is brilliant but Arteta has taken one big risk