Arsenal 2023 summer transfer window preview: Incomings

Providing competition/cover for Bukayo Saka

I addressed the need to provide competition—or at least cover—for Saka in this article, so I won’t go into it in as much detail here. The point is that Arsenal rely heavily on Saka and there really isn’t another player in the squad that can provide what he does in any sort of meaningful way. With Champions League football next season, Arsenal would be wise to find somebody that can fill in for Saka without a significant drop in quality so that Arteta is better able to rotate the squad without negative effects. This is true without even considering the possibility of a Saka injury (touch wood!).

I expect Arsenal to sign a young, left-footed right winger that could compete with Saka for a price ideally under £50m if they spend big in other areas, or more if they find the perfect fit. This would hopefully be to attract a player that can fill in for Saka when needed, pressure Saka to continue to perform at his best and would be willing to sign a contract when he isn’t guaranteed regular starts.

Three targets that I identified in the previously-mentioned article are Moussa Diaby, Samuel Chukwueze and Michael Olise. Bayer Leverkusen would certainly expect more than £50m for Diaby and Crystal Palace will likely ask for more than this amount for Olise, so Chukwuese may be the most reasonable transfer target given these parameters. However, we could see Arsenal opting for one of the more expensive options if they find a target they really like and prefer spending big in this area alongside only one big-money midfielder.

If a transfer for a player of this profile falls through, Arsenal may look to purchase a player more of the Leandro Trossard mould—a veteran who can be purchased for a lower investment and make an immediate impact. One player that immediately comes to mind is Marco Asensio, whose contract expires this summer and has recently been linked to Arsenal. That being said, it’s hard to see why he would prefer Arsenal to Madrid given that he may struggle to find more game time for the Gunners than Los Blancos, but a big Madrid signing could push him out, similar to the Gabriel Jesus transfer last summer.

Expect Arsenal to go for a young right-winger to compete with Saka this summer, even if it isn’t one of the players I mentioned here.

Continued on the next slide…