Arsenal must build on their hot start to the summer transfer window

Arsenal have been making moves this summer & the club must continue on this course

Why? Well, anyone who watched Arsenal play last season will know precisely why. With underachieving, yet supporter-favoured players in the fold like Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette, the Gunners still managed to manoeuvre around those issues – one way or another – to finish just two points adrift of a return to the Champions League.

So, this summer the team has spent like a unit that noticed this remarkable prgress and wishes to pour petrol onto the metaphorical fire. They have purchased young, with goalkeeper Matt Turner the oldest at 27, and Marquinhos the youngest at just 19. Fabio Vieira and Gabriel Jesus, just 22 and 25 respectively, are set to be with the club for many years, and their influence might just be enough to accelerate the progress of this squad even further.

For, after all, with better creativity and greater options in the midfield at times, and better finishing in the final third, there is a real argument to be made that, instead of fifth place, the Gunners could easily have captured third place from Chelsea. Those painful experiences, such as the three-game losing streaks in August and April, as well as the defeats at Tottenham and Newcastle to round off the campaign, will all be part of the many reasons why this team will be better this coming year than they were last season.

However, should they wish for European glory this year, silverware and a UCL spot in the successive campaign, more players will be needed across the pitch.

Two or three players for the present at Arsenal, and another for the future too

With July having just begun, pre-season matches around the corner and a return to official action at the start of August, there is no time to spare as the recruitment process at Arsenal continues. There are still positions to fill, exciting players to purchase and develop, and more to do for not only the present of this team, but the future as well.

William Saliba, signed by Unai Emery in 2019, is a great example of the foresight that good bosses and administrations must have in football in the lead-up to and during transfer windows. While Emery has been vilified by some Gooners, he signed players like Saliba, Matteo Guendouzi, and Lucas Torreira. While only one of those names will be on the roster when August rolls around, two of them play for the French national team, and the other, while not great in north London, has thrived elsewhere

And so, Mikel Arteta and Edu Gaspar must work both for the future of this present team, as well as the future of future Arsenal squads; pretty trippy, right? Well, to keep the momentum going as this season nears, signing Argentina’s Lisandro Martinez of Ajax and Belgium’s Youri Tielemans of Leicester City will be really important. The backend of this side will have, by these measures, been solidified, with versatility a clear emphasis in terms of summer recruiting.

Another striker could be useful too, but between Jesus, Eddie Nketiah and possibly Folarin Balogun, as well as Gabriel Martinelli, it could prove surplus in the end. Yet while the present and short-term future are understood and calculated, so too must the future.

Arda Güler, the talented 17-year-old midfielder from Turkey, is a name to keep an eye out for.

Arsenal, Mikel Arteta, and Arda Güler: Perfection

The young Turkish midfielder has drawn comparisons to both the legendary Lionel Messi, as well as to that player and compatriot he pushed out of the Fenerbahce side last season: the mercurial Mesut Ozil.

Like Marquinhos, he might not be a player that makes an immediate impact, but his talent and mind render him a prospect that this Arsenal side cannot afford to cynically pass over. On the other hand, the youngest and most talented players are never expected to contribute so immensely so quickly, until they do, and this gamble would be a positive one for the Gunners to entertain and execute.

There has been great energy with how Arsenal have, thus far, gone about their summer business. This energy must be carried further, and in fact, over to next season; there is no reason why it shouldn’t be, as there is money to spend, trust in the boss and the plan at hand, and both ambition and volition. This is a different Arsenal, and this team will continue to show that this season with a whole host of wonderfully talented, young and dynamic players. COYG!