Reuters/Matthew Childs
Arsenal have won three from three to start the new season. What's all the fuss about?
Well, if the Gunners are not sat here in a year as back-to-back Premier League winners, Andrea Berta will have questions to answer. It may not even be too drastic to suggest it could cost him his job.
REUTERS/Phil Noble
In 2025, the Italian was impressive during his first window in charge of recruitment. It was one of the most eye-catching summers Arsenal have enjoyed in recent times.
Yet, 2026 has been a struggle. Berta missed out on key targets, dilly-dallied over various deals and once all was said and done, Christos Tzolis was the only forward player to arrive.
How Arsenal's attack has been weakened
After the Champions League final in May, Mikel Arteta took to his post-match press conference and demanded that ambition was shown this summer to take his team to the next level.
While PSG's swashbuckling attack of Desire Doue, Khivcha Kvaratskhelia, Bradley Barcola and Ousmane Dembele had not torn them to shreds in Budapest, all of the pre-game build-up concerned how the Gunners could deal with such a menacing forward line.
Lewis-Skelly-Desire-Doue
Those four sensational attackers had played a major part in getting Luis Enrique's side to the final and has now been the difference in consecutive Champions League crowns.
Arsenal's attack, in comparison, is a lot worse. As Jamie Carragher put it after Arsenal's 1-0 win over Aston Villa, they are "the best team defensively in Europe." At the opposite end of the pitch, there are still holes and the hierarchy have failed the manager this summer
Arteta issued that rallying call and while the ultimate show of ambition saw them go after Vinicius Junior, neither him nor other targets including Julian Alvarez, Morgan Rogers or Kenan Yildiz arrived.
What's more, the club's forward line actually looks even worse than it did last term. Gabriel Jesus and Ethan Nwaneri were unlikely to play a major part - they didn't do so in 2025/26 - but both have left, albeit Nwaneri has only departed on loan to Borussia Dortmund.
FC Barcelona/Handout via REUTERS
Yet, cult hero Leandro Trossard has left for Besiktas and Gabriel Martinelli is on his way to Al Hilal for £55m. He will become the club's record sale. There's a positive there.
However, in the process of letting four forwards go, they have only replaced them with Tzolis. It's a huge failure and it could come back to bite them.
How Arsenal's attack could be transformed
Okay, okay, let's stop being so negative for a moment.
Arsenal are English champions for the first time in 22 years and they did pull off some impressive business. Ezri Konsa is a fabulous back-up to William Saliba and will likely play an important part in this first half of the season, in particular.
REUTERS/David Klein
Barring that match away at Villa, Tzolis has impressed too. He registered goal contributions against Girona, Dortmund and Real Betis in pre-season while provided a brace of assists in he Community Shield.
Still, it's been a challenge for supporters to forget about the Greek's display last Monday. Hooked at half-time in favour of Eberechi Eze, nothing went right for him on the night.
So, what's the solution to improving Arsenal's attack? Well, they have signed Bruno Guimaraes for £75m.
Action Images via Reuters/Andrew Couldridge
The former Newcastle United captain is a midfielder by trade, "one of the best midfielders in the world" in the words of the aforementioned Martinelli but he could play a vital part in matters at the top end of the pitch.
Best midfielders in the world ranked
Best midfielders in the world ranked
While Guimaraes is usually associated with playing in a deeper role, he certainly played in more advanced positions for the Toon last term, registering a career high nine goals over the course of the season, as well as registering seven assists.
To put that number into context, only four players at Arsenal scored more in 2025/26; Viktor Gyokeres, Bukayo Saka, Eze and Martinelli. Additionally, only four players created more assists; Declan Rice, Trossard, Saka and Martin Odegaard.
So, the Brazilian could offer a much needed top up of goal involvements if given the license to roam forward. If he does play in that advanced role, he could be game-changing as far as chance creation is concerned.
Let's cast our minds back to the 2022/23 season. Granit Xhaka - a likeminded player to Guimaraes - played as the 8. His ability to produce line-breaking passes was a very underrated element of his game but it was transformative for Arsenal's attack.
It was hardly a surprise that Martinelli had his best season in front of goal with 15 when Xhaka was playing alongside him.
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Bruno vs Arsenal mids (line-breaking passes in 25/26)
Player
Guimaraes
Odegaard
Rice
Zubimendi
Eze
Merino
Guimaraes is cut from a similar cloth. He made more line-breaking passes than any Arsenal midfielder last campaign. He's a dogged midfielder with warrior spirit and he'll get in your face much like Xhaka. But, he's also got the technical attributes the Swiss had. We saw that against Aston Villa.
Bruno appeared for the final 19 minutes and completed 87% of his passes. There was one exceptional moment when he took possession on the edge of the area and slid a lovely defence splitting pass into the penalty area towards Kai Havertz. It ended up in a goalscoring opportunity being carved out. It was so Xhaka-like.
Granit-Xhaka-Arsenal
Sure, the 28-year-old is not the definition of an attacker but the way in which he plays could be game-breaking for Arteta's front three.
They need more creativity, they need more penetrative passing between the lines into the forward players, particularly against the low blocks they face. Guimaraes will provide exactly that.
Christos-Tzolis-Arsenal