The date is June 6 and from the reactions from many of the Arsenal faithful, you’d think deadline day is around the corner. In fairness, it sort of is, as the this mini early opening in the window due to the FIFA Club World Cup is about to close with a June 10 deadline.
However, this is irrelevant for Arsenal with only two dates truly important when it comes to fulfilling Mikel Arteta’s dream of sorting their business early. The return of the players to pre-season training on July 7 and the date the club fly to Asia on their pre-season tour July 19.
It is key to get the priority business done for a centre-forward, defensive midfielder, and wide player. There are other needs, such as a backup goalkeeper, defender, and, what could be described as a luxury addition, another attacking option, but this window is about landing the important five positions.
As Manchester United confirmed Matheus Cunha, followed by Liverpool with Jeremie Frimpong, Chelsea with Liam Delap and now Manchester City appear to be moving on three potential arrivals before their Club World Cup participation, it has soured the feel around the club. Gabriel Magalhaes’ contract renewal has lifted the mood somewhat but fans want deals.
It has led to the annual claim that Arsenal is again dragging its heels and always takes an age to do its business. I thought I’d dive into this and see whether there is substance to the claim that this is indeed a yearly occurrence.
Looking at 2024, there is no doubt fans have reason to be frustrated. Mikel Merino and Riccardo Calafiori were the headlines of a very underwhelming window, made worse due to the fact neither came in before the pre-season tour, Merino would get injured in his first training session missing two months and the other two additions, loan signings of Neto and Raheem Sterling, were last-minute deadline day deals.
Last season, the recruitment was nothing short of inadequate and the empty January window only worsened the sentiment. It is perhaps no surprise, therefore, that with both Edu Gaspar and now Jason Ayto no longer involved, the club is in talks with many targets, with Andrea Berta now in the sporting director role.
Yet without making out the likes of Edu to be a villain, because he is far from that, his work in squad building helped take the club back, alongside manager Mikel Arteta, to title relevancy, Champions League participation and competitiveness across competitions. This gave the club the best chance of winning titles for the better part of two decades.
His work in 2023 was a massive part of that and helps to disprove the myth that Arsenal always drag their heels in the window. The signings of Kai Havertz, Jurrien Timber and Declan Rice contributed to a record-breaking window for many reasons, and all came in and took part in the summer pre-season tour.
Rewind another year to 2022, and Gabriel Jesus and Fabio Vieira, nearly £80million worth of investment, also came in before the tour. While Oleksandr Zinchenko arrived only days into it, as the club had been bidding but unsuccessfully for Lisandro Martinez but pivoted quickly.
The January window saw the club bid early for Mykhailo Mudryk and Moises Caicedo, two players who would have been major additions at the time. When unsuccessful after long pursuits, they moved quickly and pivoted to Leandro Trossard and Jorginho, with Jakub Kiwior also arriving in between.
Therefore, in two of the last three summer windows, Arsenal have certainly not let discussions drag on; they have successfully landed players before pre-season. There is this sense that doing the deals in June is a necessity; it isn’t.
It makes next to no difference with the players only coming back in July to train briefly before the tour. This is the wrong time for anger and frustration, with the accounting benefits of doing deals in July for many clubs, this also has an effect on when moves happen.
This summer, Arsenal have all but wrapped up a deal already for Martin Zubimendi, with only a medical left to complete the deal, football.london understands, but a July confirmation would benefit all parties, and so fans may just have to be a little more patient. But with the move advanced as early as January, it is yet another example of Arsenal being proactive in the window.
Berta is understood to be holding discussions with several targets already, with the hope of making further moves before pre-season. Names such as Benjamin Sesko and Viktor Gyokeres are circulating, but as usual, the club is very private when it comes to their business, and as such, there will be far more going on than what is showing on the surface.
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Arsenal Manager Mikel Arteta, Bukayo Saka, Martin Odegaard and Gabriel Jesus with the Arsenal Therapy Dog Win during the Arsenal Men's team group shoot at London Colney on September 18, 2023
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