Every Mikel Arteta signing at Arsenal so far – ranked

10. Pablo Marí (£6.8m)

Next on the list is Spanish-born Flamengo defender Pablo Marí, who became the first acquisition of the Mikel Arteta era in January 2020.

On paper, Marí appeared to be signed for convenience rather than for his defensive stock, with the former Man City man known to have a pre-existing connection with Arteta while he also met the criteria for a left-footed player available at a reasonable price.

But in any case, he had encouraging moments in the backline – compensating for a lack of pace with positional awareness, discipline and an eye for a pass – and some impressive performances over Christmas sparked suggestions that he should be first choice.

He proved himself to be a steady option but had some struggles, and a combination of bad injury luck and Gabriel’s good form saw him fall down the pecking order before temporarily moving to Udinese. A little underwhelming.

9. Nuno Tavares (£7m)

The Jekyll and Hyde of the Arsenal squad. Little was known about Nuno Tavares before his north London switch in July of last year and, in truth, he remains something of an enigma 11 months later.

First impressions were positive as an injury to Kieran Tierney paved his path to the first team and a string of fine displays earned him an extended run in the side. Tavares quickly endeared himself to supporters with a mix of bustling energy and notable threat in the final third, but he is also extremely erratic and his frequent lapses in concentration can often leave teammates badly exposed.

As a young player brought in for backup and in need of an adaptation period, Tavares has probably done as well as could be reasonably expected, but a loan move this summer might be in his best interests.

8. Dani Ceballos (Loan)

While he recently added a Champions League winners’ medal and La Liga title to his name, Dani Ceballos had an indifferent two-season loan spell at Arsenal from 2019-2021 and never really lived up to his promise during that time.

The Real Madrid midfielder landed at the Emirates off the back of a triumphant Euros campaign with Spain’s Under-21s and instantly wowed spectators with a virtuoso performance on his home debut against Burnley early in the campaign.

Further impressive showings, which include a late quarter-final winner against Sheffield United, culminated in a 14th FA Cup win at the end of Project Restart and prompted the boss to bring him back for a second loan, but he largely flattered to deceive and left with just seven goal contributions in 77 matches.

Not a terrible signing by any stretch, but he could have delivered so much more.

7. Cedric Soares (Free)

We return to the freebie market now and there was a more favourable outcome on this occasion as Arsenal acquired capable depth at full-back when they signed Cedric from Southampton.

Cedric got his Gunners’ career off to the best possible start in June 2020 with a clean sheet and spectacular debut goal against Norwich. And while he was only ever likely to be a fringe player, recurring calf strains for Takehiro Tomiyasu since the turn of the year afforded him regular football which subsequently led to a call up to the Portugal squad for the March international break.

A decent option hampered by a few weaknesses, Cedric largely gives us what we paid for and will hopefully operate in a less-prominent role next season.

Continued on the next slide…