Arsenal ended the summer transfer window as reigning Premier League champions, with greater depth in midfield and defence and another promising wide attacker added to Mikel Arteta’s squad.
One significant piece of business, however, never arrived.
The Gunners spent much of the summer exploring the possibility of signing an elite forward capable of changing the ceiling of their attack. Julián Álvarez, Bradley Barcola, Morgan Rogers and Vinícius Júnior were among the high-level players considered at different stages, but Arsenal ultimately finished the window without completing a deal for any of them.
That does not mean Arsenal had a poor transfer window.
Bruno Guimarães strengthens an already formidable midfield, Ezri Konsa adds experienced defensive depth, Piero Hincapié’s move was made permanent and Christos Tzolis gives Arteta another direct option from the left. The Premier League’s own assessment described Guimarães as one of Arsenal’s major statement signings and highlighted Tzolis as the replacement for Leandro Trossard.
But the unanswered question is obvious:
Did Arsenal strengthen almost everywhere except the one area that could decide the biggest matches?
Supporters can follow the champions throughout the season through SoccerMatchToday’s Arsenal team page and the main Premier League hub.
Arsenal Clearly Wanted a Difference-Making Forward
The most important point is that Arsenal were not simply linked with attackers because of transfer-market speculation.
Improving the forward line was genuinely part of their summer planning.
Before the window gathered pace, Arsenal were assessing several high-level attacking options. Reports around the club identified Morgan Rogers, Bradley Barcola, Julián Álvarez and Vinícius Júnior among the players considered capable of improving a team that had just won the Premier League and reached the Champions League final.
That distinction matters.
Arsenal were not looking for another squad player.
They were searching for someone good enough to improve an already title-winning first XI.
That makes recruitment considerably harder.
When a club reaches Arsenal’s current level, signing a player who is merely “good” can actually create more problems than solutions. The transfer fee is large, wages increase and minutes have to be taken away from established internationals.
Any incoming attacker therefore needed to provide something Arsenal did not already possess.
The club ultimately decided not to force a deal when that player could not be secured on acceptable terms.
Whether that restraint proves intelligent or costly will be one of the defining questions of Arsenal’s season.
Why Arsenal Wanted Julián Álvarez?
Álvarez arguably represented the most logical late-window solution.
The Argentina international can play through the middle, operate behind another striker or drift into wider attacking positions. He is also accustomed to pressing aggressively without possession.
That versatility would have solved several issues simultaneously.
Arsenal could have used him alongside Viktor Gyökeres in selected matches, instead of Gyökeres when greater combination play was required, or from a wider starting position.
The problem was availability.
Atlético Madrid maintained a strong negotiating position, while Álvarez had also attracted significant interest from Barcelona. Reuters reported that Atlético had no intention of negotiating with Barcelona and that an Arsenal move was one of the remaining possibilities, but the required valuation was around €150 million.
Arsenal pushed, but the deal never materialised.
That left Arteta without the transformative forward the club had spent much of the summer trying to identify.
Bradley Barcola Was Another Elite-Level Option
Arsenal’s interest in Bradley Barcola also makes sense when viewed through the profile of the attacker they appeared to want.
Barcola combines elite acceleration with direct dribbling, chance creation and the ability to attack from the left.
Liverpool ultimately secured the France international from Paris Saint-Germain in a deal worth up to £123 million, illustrating exactly how expensive this tier of attacker became during the summer window.
Arsenal had reservations about reaching the financial level required to sign him.
Liverpool did not.
That does not automatically mean Liverpool made the better decision.
Transfer value is contextual, and paying more than £100 million for an attacker carries significant risk of its own.
But it demonstrates Arsenal’s problem clearly.
The forwards capable of unquestionably improving their attack were either extremely expensive or effectively unavailable.
Arsenal Also Refused to Chase Morgan Rogers at Any Price
Morgan Rogers presented a similar dilemma.
Arsenal reportedly valued the former Aston Villa attacker at around £80 million, but Chelsea eventually paid substantially more to secure him.
Again, Arsenal could have responded by simply offering more money.
They chose not to.
That approach deserves some credit.
Manchester City, Chelsea, Liverpool and Tottenham were among the clubs involved in an extraordinary Premier League spending cycle this summer, with total expenditure across the division reaching approximately £3.46 billion.
Arsenal did not allow the market to dictate that every target must be signed regardless of price.
The question is whether disciplined recruitment becomes overly cautious when the squad is already close enough to challenge for every major trophy.
Sometimes the final five per cent of improvement is disproportionately expensive.
For Arsenal, this summer may have been exactly that situation.
Viktor Gyökeres Makes the Debate More Complicated
It would be misleading to claim Arsenal do not already possess a proven goalscorer.
They do.
Viktor Gyökeres scored 21 goals in all competitions during his debut Arsenal season, becoming only the 13th player in the club’s history to reach 20 goals in his first campaign. Arsenal’s own analysis placed him alongside names such as Thierry Henry, Ian Wright and Alexis Sánchez among the club’s strongest debut-season scorers.
That is significant production.
Calling his first Arsenal season a failure would be unreasonable.
Yet the debate surrounding Gyökeres has never been purely about how many goals he scores.
It is about how naturally his strengths fit Arsenal’s football.
At Sporting CP, Gyökeres was devastating when given space to run into, using his strength and acceleration to attack transitions.
Arsenal spend far more time facing compact defensive blocks.
Opponents frequently defend with numbers behind the ball, reducing the space available for those long, powerful runs.
That adjustment was visible throughout his first season.
Even when Gyökeres scored regularly, there were periods when Arsenal’s attack appeared more fluid with Kai Havertz operating centrally.
The issue is therefore not whether Gyökeres can score.
It is whether he is always the right No.9 for the particular problems Arsenal face.
Gyökeres Still Has Room to Develop at Arsenal
There are also reasons to believe the best version of Gyökeres at Arsenal has not yet appeared.
His performances improved during the latter months of last season.
Arteta publicly praised the striker’s work ethic and development in May, particularly highlighting his improvement in linking with teammates and holding possession. By then, Gyökeres had reached 21 goals after increasingly influential performances during Arsenal’s run to the Champions League final.
That progression matters.
Players are not static.
A striker who struggled with certain aspects of Arsenal’s positional game during his first six months may understand those requirements far better during his second season.
If Gyökeres makes another substantial technical and tactical improvement, discussion about Arsenal failing to sign another forward could disappear quickly.
If those limitations remain, the missed opportunity will look much more significant.
Arsenal’s Goals Did Not Depend on One Superstar Last Season
Arsenal’s title-winning campaign also provides an important counterargument to the idea that every champion requires a 25-goal Premier League striker.
They won the league without one.
Arsenal’s scoring was unusually distributed across the team.
According to the club’s season review, 18 different Arsenal players scored in the Premier League, excluding own goals. The team also scored 19 times from set pieces, matching the highest total recorded by a Premier League side in a single campaign.
Gyökeres led the attack, but Saka, Eberechi Eze, midfielders and defenders all contributed.
That diversity made Arsenal harder to neutralise.
Stop the striker and someone else could score.
Stop Saka and a set piece could decide the match.
Prevent both and Arsenal still possessed midfielders capable of arriving around the penalty area.
This is an important strength rather than evidence of attacking weakness.
The latest individual scoring numbers can be followed through SoccerMatchToday’s Premier League top scorers as the new campaign develops.
The Bigger Concern Is Arsenal’s Reduced Attacking Depth
The stronger argument for Arsenal taking a risk is not necessarily that they failed to replace Gyökeres.
It is what happened around him.
Gabriel Jesus has now left Arsenal for Barcelona after four seasons in north London. He departed having made 123 Arsenal appearances and scored 32 goals, although injuries and increased competition had reduced his role.
Leandro Trossard also moved on during the summer.
Ethan Nwaneri has joined Borussia Dortmund on loan.
Gabriel Martinelli has additionally been the subject of serious negotiations with Al-Hilal, although his proposed Saudi transfer had not been officially completed at the Premier League deadline.
The numbers therefore matter.
Arsenal have removed several players who could cover attacking positions while bringing in Tzolis as the principal new forward.
This is where the gamble becomes easier to identify.
It is less about whether Arsenal needed to spend £120m on one superstar and more about whether they retained enough attacking options to survive injuries, fixture congestion and inevitable fluctuations in form.
Christos Tzolis Could Make Arsenal’s Decision Look Much Smarter
Tzolis should not be treated as an insignificant signing simply because he did not arrive with the profile of Vinícius or Álvarez.
The Greece international produced excellent numbers before leaving Club Brugge.
He registered 43 goals and 45 assists in 108 appearances during his two seasons in Belgium and was named Belgian Pro League Player of the Season before completing a reported £34m move to Arsenal.
His pre-season was also encouraging.
Tzolis recorded six assists across Arsenal’s summer programme and supplied two in the 3-0 Community Shield victory over Manchester City.
More importantly, he gives Arsenal something they specifically wanted: directness from the left.
The Premier League’s pre-window analysis identified that flank as an area needing improvement, noting Arsenal funnelled only 33 per cent of their attacks down the left compared with 43 per cent through the right during 2025/26.
If Tzolis adapts quickly to Premier League football, Arsenal may have solved one of their attacking issues for considerably less money than their marquee alternatives would have cost.
Eberechi Eze Gives Arteta Another Solution From the Left
Arsenal’s depth should also not be evaluated purely by counting natural wingers.
Eberechi Eze can operate from the left.
He did so successfully for Crystal Palace before joining Arsenal and has already been used there by Arteta in major matches.
That gives Arsenal a different type of option.
Tzolis is more naturally direct.
Eze prefers receiving possession between lines, carrying the ball inside and combining centrally.
Using either player changes Arsenal’s attacking structure without requiring a formation change.
The presence of Eze therefore softens the impact of losing Trossard and potentially Martinelli, even if he does not reproduce exactly what either player offered.
Kai Havertz Could Be Arsenal’s Most Important Attacking Insurance
Havertz may actually be the player who makes Arsenal’s decision defensible.
His role has evolved significantly since arriving from Chelsea.
Originally recruited with midfield in mind, Havertz gradually became an effective central forward because of his movement, aerial ability and understanding of Arsenal’s positional game.
He offers almost the opposite interpretation of the No.9 role to Gyökeres.
Gyökeres wants to attack defenders and space.
Havertz frequently moves away from centre-backs, connects midfield with attack and creates room for Saka and other runners.
Having both options gives Arteta tactical flexibility.
The problem last season was availability.
Havertz missed significant stretches through injury, forcing Gyökeres to carry an unusually heavy workload.
A fully fit Havertz changes the calculation considerably.
Bukayo Saka Remains Arsenal’s Genuine World-Class Forward
There is also a flaw in the idea that Arsenal lack a world-class attacker altogether.
Bukayo Saka already is one.
The England international reached 50 Premier League goals and 50 assists last season at 24 years old, becoming the second-youngest player in competition history to achieve both landmarks. Only Wayne Rooney did it younger.
Arsenal’s attacking structure is still heavily built around his influence.
His ability to receive under pressure, beat defenders, create chances and score from the right gives Arteta an elite attacking reference point.
Saka has already shown his value this season.
He scored the decisive goal in Arsenal’s 1-0 victory at Aston Villa, maintaining their perfect start to the Premier League campaign.
The more accurate criticism, therefore, is not that Arsenal lack world-class attacking quality.
It is that they may lack another attacker of Saka’s game-changing level.
That is a very different argument.
Arsenal Strengthened the Team in Other Important Areas
Focusing exclusively on the missing forward can also distort the quality of Arsenal’s wider recruitment.
Bruno Guimarães is a major addition.
The former Newcastle captain brings Premier League experience, ball progression, intensity and another elite option alongside Declan Rice and Martin Zubimendi.
Ezri Konsa was also recruited after William Saliba suffered a back injury expected to keep him out for an extended period. Arsenal needed defensive insurance and responded rather than entering the season hoping their existing options would remain healthy.
Both Guimarães and Konsa made their Arsenal debuts during the victory at Aston Villa.
That matters because title races are rarely determined by one position alone.
Arsenal’s defence was central to their championship success.
Maintaining that strength while improving midfield control may produce more points than spending the same money on another attacker would have.
The Risk Becomes Bigger in the Champions League
Where Arsenal’s decision may be tested most severely is Europe.
Premier League champions can often compensate for an imperfect attack across 38 games through defensive consistency, set pieces and squad depth.
Champions League knockout matches are different.
At that level, the margin between progressing and being eliminated can be one individual action.
Arsenal experienced exactly that last season.
They reached the Champions League final and pushed Paris Saint-Germain through an extremely tight contest before losing on penalties, having gone through the competition without a defeat in normal time.
When opponents are equally organised and equally athletic, elite individual attacking quality becomes particularly valuable.
A Vinícius, Barcola or Álvarez can create something from a situation that does not appear to contain a chance.
That is the type of player Arsenal were trying to add.
They did not find one.
Arsenal Have Earned the Right Not to Panic Buy
There is another side to the argument.
One of the easiest transfer mistakes for an elite club is signing the wrong expensive player simply because supporters expect a major acquisition.
Arsenal already have Gyökeres.
They have Havertz.
They have Saka.
They have Eze.
They have Tzolis.
They also have Noni Madueke and other attacking options within the squad.
Buying another forward only makes sense if that player is clearly better or provides a genuinely different solution.
Arsenal appear to have concluded that once their priority targets became unavailable or prohibitively expensive, there was little value in moving down the list merely to complete another signing.
That is defensible squad building.
The alternative is spending £70m or £80m on a player who becomes another rotation option rather than transforming the side.
The First Two Matches Have Not Exposed the Problem
There is little evidence from the opening weeks that Arsenal’s decision has already backfired.
The champions have collected six points from their opening two Premier League fixtures and followed their Community Shield victory against Manchester City with a winning start to the title defence. Their latest result was the controlled 1-0 victory at Aston Villa.
Their next test is much more revealing.
Arsenal face Chelsea at the Emirates on 6 September, providing an early meeting with another club expected to challenge near the top of the league.
Supporters can keep track of those games through the Arsenal fixtures page and monitor their title position via the Premier League standings.
So, Have Arsenal Taken a Risk?
Yes, but it is a calculated one.
Arsenal clearly wanted another elite attacker and failed to sign one.
That alone tells us Arteta and the recruitment team believed there was room to improve the forward line.
The departures of Jesus and Trossard, together with uncertainty around Martinelli, make the decision more significant because Arsenal are not simply returning with exactly the same attacking depth.
But describing the squad as short of attacking quality would go too far.
Gyökeres scored 21 times in his first season.
Saka is already among Europe’s leading wide forwards.
Havertz offers a completely different interpretation of centre-forward.
Eze can play from the left.
Tzolis arrives after exceptional production in Belgium and an impressive pre-season.
And Arsenal have strengthened several other areas of an XI that was already good enough to win the Premier League.
The gamble is therefore specific.
It is not whether Arsenal can score enough goals to compete.
They almost certainly can.
It is whether, in the decisive moments against Manchester City, Liverpool, Chelsea or Europe’s strongest Champions League opponents, Arsenal will regret not having one more attacker capable of deciding a game almost by himself.
That answer will not come from the transfer window.
It will come when Arsenal’s margins become smaller.
For match-by-match context throughout the campaign, SoccerMatchToday provides Arsenal results, upcoming fixtures and the latest Premier League table.
