Strengthen the midfield

The Kroenke family was disappointed when Arsenal finished the 2024/25 season without any titles, despite being among the teams that invested the most in transfers for many years.

That was the fifth consecutive season that Arsenal went empty-handed on all long-term fronts (Premier League, FA Cup, League Cup, European Cup).

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Arsenal have been empty-handed for five consecutive seasons on all fronts. Photo: PL

During this time, only 2 Community Shield titles have been brought to the Emirates Stadium (2020, 2023). The Community Shield has never been taken seriously by big teams and is only used to test the squad before the season.

The Kroenkes, through their own team of advisers, reassessed Mikel Arteta’s performance, and the former Spain midfielder was eventually retained as manager amid doubts over his ability to win major trophies.

Amidst the scepticism, Arteta has been offered the signings he wanted. Martin Zubimendi is one of them.

Arteta has long wanted Zubimendi in his squad to control the midfield. The Sociedad player is good at recovering and passing the ball. At the same time, he is suitable for a game where a deep defence is required.

Zubimendi could be said to be a combination of Jorginho – who has moved to Flamengo – and Thomas Partey – a player who was very important last season but has not reached an agreement to extend his contract. He will be a free agent after June 30.

In terms of passing and control, Zubimendi resembles Jorginho at his peak. This allows Declan Rice and Martin Odegaard to focus more on the attacking side.

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Zubimendi will help further improve Arsenal's already strong midfield. Photo: Imago

With Zubimendi, Arteta wants to satisfy the Kroenke family about possession-based attacking football.

Lack of scoring solutions

The Zubimendi deal helps Arsenal complete their midfield and add depth to their squad. However, the Gunners' current squad still lacks the solutions to win the Premier League.

Specifically, the London team lacks a player who can score 20 goals per Premier League season.

Since the 2019/20 season, when Mikel Arteta began his professional coaching career, the Premier League champions have regularly had a striker score at least 19 goals.

The only exception was in the 2020/21 season; Man City were crowned champions with midfielder Ilkay Gundogan leading the scoring charts with 13 goals.

However, at that time, the Etihad team had 5 players scoring at least 9 goals (7 players scored 6 goals), when Pep Guardiola did not use a center forward but chose a "false 9".

That's why Pep Guardiola agreed to let Gabriel Jesus join Arsenal, and then he replaced him with Erling Haaland.

In the last 3 seasons, the Premier League top scorer has always been a member of the champion, with at least 27 goals.

What about Arsenal? Last season, Kai Havertz led the Premier League scoring charts with nine goals. No one else has reached that number.

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Mikel Arteta needs another striker who can score 20 goals a season. Photo: The Guardian

In Arteta's full seasons in charge, the Gunners have had no consistent strikers over the long haul.

In the 2020/21 season, Alexandre Lacazette led the way with 13 goals. In the 2021/22 season, Bukayo Saka had 11 goals. Gabriel Martinelli and Odegaard both scored 15 goals in the 2022/23 season. In the 2023/24 season, Saka scored 16 goals.

Arsenal's failure last season, even as Man City gave up early, was the clearest evidence of their limitations in scoring. Havertz was out injured for a long time but still scored the most goals in the Premier League (9) and in all competitions.

Mikel Arteta brought Mikel Merino up as a striker but the results were not always as expected.

Arteta has been heavily influenced by Pep Guardiola in terms of tactics and the “false 9”. However, he is still far from reaching the level of the former Barcelona captain.

Arteta himself knows that. Therefore, he prioritizes the plan to buy Benjamin Sesko, or Viktor Gyokeres. Arsenal needs a striker who always "shoots" regularly to end the thirst for the Premier League title.

Source: https://vietnamnet.vn/arsenal-mua-zubimendi-van-chi-du-suc-dua-a-quan-premier-league-2413622.html