Mustafi
Arsenal officially have the best defence in European football. There are no ifs, there are no buts. No other side are as solid, as organised at the back as Mikel Arteta's men.
Last season, they kept nine clean sheets in the Champions League, three more than any other side. No side conceded fewer goals per match than the Gunners who shipped just 0.5. They are elite.
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The job Arteta has performed to get his side into that sort of shape is remarkable. When he joined, this was a team that had the likes of Sokratis, David Luiz, Shkodran Mustafi, Calum Chambers and Rob Holding at the back.
Now, they have William Saliba, Gabriel Maglhaes, Ezri Konsa, Riccardo Calafiori and Jurrien Timber in their ranks. The difference is night and day.
How Arteta has transformed the Arsenal defence from the days of Mustafi
The starting XI for Arteta's first match, a clash away at Bournemouth, tells you just how extreme the club's transformation has been. When he first arrived, this was a team so far away from winning any major trophy.
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Arteta's first Arsenal lineup
GK - Bernd Leno
RB - Ainsley Maitland-Niles
CB - David Luiz
CB - Sokratis
LB - Bukayo Saka
CM - Lucas Torreira
CM - Granit Xhaka
CAM - Mesut Ozil
RW - Reiss Nelson
LW - P-E Aubameyang
CF - Alexandre Lacazette
While Arsenal still had some game-changers in attack, notably Mesut Ozil and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, defensively it was a mess.
David Luiz was incredibly error-prone, while the less said about Mustafi the better. The German is widely regarded as one of Arsenal's worst-ever signings. He always seemed to be at the scene of the crime.
So, what did Arteta do to transform their fortunes? Well, the first piece of the puzzle was Gabriel . He joined in the summer of 2020 from Lille for a bargain fee of just £27m.
Two more pieces of the jigsaw came a year later. Ben White and Aaron Ramsalde joined for big sums of money. In 2022, it was the turn of Oleksandr Zinchenko to arrive. At the same time, Saliba was finally given his first taste of senior football for Arsenal. After two and a half years, Arteta's defensive restructure was complete. Well, so we fought.
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Arsenal's defence has now got even better. Zinchenko has been and gone, replaced by Piero Hincapie and Calafiori. At right-back Timber has provided competition for White.
In the middle, Gabriel and Saliba have remarkable understudies in the form of Konsa and Cristhian Mosquera. Now, compare that with the defence Arteta inherited. Yes, it's mind-boggling.
All that said, there is a key component we're yet to discuss.
£30m Arsenal star is their biggest upgrade since Mustafi to Saliba
From the days of Mustafi to the days of Saliba, Arsenal's fortunes couldn't be more greater. The Frenchman is regarded as one of the world's best centre-backs, if not the very best, and the Gunners signed him all for just £27m.
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They have gone from an error-riddled defender to one who, to put it simply, does not make mistakes. He's the coolest man on the pitch, he doesn't let anything faze him.
Well, the same can be said of a certain David Raya. Indeed, the upgrade Arsenal have acquired in the form of the Spaniard is colossal and it makes the decision to ditch him for Aaron Ramsdale a genius move.
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In the summer of 2023, the Gunners had just given Ramsdale a new contract. He looked as though he was going to be Arsenal's number 1 for years to come. Yet, in came Raya, initially joining on loan before making the move permanent for £30m a year later.
In all honesty, Ramsdale hadn't done a huge amount wrong. Yet, he wasn't always the steadiest of goalkeepers. He did have an error in him. Let us cast our minds back to that 3-3 draw with Southampton where the Arsenal stopper set the tone for a disastrous result by passing the ball straight to Charly Alcarez in the first half. He was left with a tap in.
It is the type of mistake that has not been commonplace since Raya took the gloves. The way it all happened, however, could have been handled far better.
When the former Brentford man arrived, Arteta admitted that he now had two numbers 1s. It was a policy that Gary Neville, in particular was against. "I'm not a fan of competition for goalkeepers. You need a clear number 1 and a clear number 2."
Best goalkeepers in the world ranked
Best goalkeepers in the world ranked
Well, in reality, that was not the case. After the end of the first international break in 2023/24, Raya came into the team and he has never been displaced since.
Arsenal supporters didn't realise it at the time but three years on, they have found perhaps the best goalkeeper in the world. His performance levels over the last few years have been extraordinarily good, winning three successive Premier League Golden Gloves.
He may owe a lot of that to the defence in front of him but he's also come up with some huge moments himself, the latest of which was against Sunderland last Saturday night when he made an incredible penalty save to keep Enzo Le Fee at bay.
Compared to Ramsdale, Raya radiates calmness. There is never a moment where he looks flustered. There isn't a moment where you're worried about him with the ball at his feet.
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Arsenal's former goalkeeper wasn't so much of a Mustafi type but to go from him to Raya is akin to Saliba coming into the heart of the defence. Between them, they are two of the most unflappable players in the Premier League.
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