Have Arsenal ever been more attractive than they are right now? And no, I am not talking about how my eyes are drawn so alluringly toward the current beautiful away kit that has adorned the players this season.
I am talking about transfers. There’s always been talk of the ‘special knock’ the club has, referenced recently by now-former head of football Raul Sanllehi.
Although, Sanllehi did recently tell The Athletic how Arsenal had betrayed what he believes is a successful model of not making the first-team head coach the manager. That was in September of last year, since which Arsenal’s now manager Mikel Arteta has taken the club as close to a title as they have been in nearly two decades.
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Honestly, and it hurts somewhat to say this, Arsenal had lost much of the allure as a club they once had during the glory years of Arsene Wenger and under several managers before him. The end of the Frenchman’s time at Arsenal saw a decline and eventual failure to qualify for the Champions League.
Arsenal still paid players money akin to that of a club in the elite European competition because firstly they needed that level of player to try and return and secondly few wanted to leave whilst being paid that money. Sporting director Edu Gaspar told football.london how he had to ‘invest’ in cancelling player contracts to overhaul the squad.
A costly yet, based on the current squad’s dynamic and progression, a worthwhile task it seems. So worthwhile in fact that Edu’s work in combination with his fellow executives, the coaching staff and of course the players has led the Gunners back into the Champions League.
However, it is very different this time. This isn’t the Arsenal side perpetually trapped in the top four without looking up or down nor beyond the last 16 of the UEFA tournament.
This is an Arsenal side on the up, with a growing pedigree and the most attractive it has been since perhaps it reached the competition’s final back in 2006. Even then, players like Patrick Vieira had already left and Thierry Henry wasn’t too far behind him, leaving just a year after that final in Paris.
Arsenal signed smartly and developed their own gems but couldn’t hold them despite Champions League status. Samir Nasri, Cesc Fabregas and Robin van Persie all left to win the biggest trophies around.
“At Arsenal, I didn’t feel like we were on the level to compete," Van Persie said in an interview with Kaj Gorgels. "One day, the chairman of Arsenal showed me how healthy the club was by showing me their positive numbers. I told him: ‘I don’t give a sh*t about these numbers, I want to lift the Premier League trophy’.”
In 2023, Bukayo Saka and Aaron Ramsdale are set to extend their contracts with the club football.london understands. Gabriel Magalhães, Emile Smith Rowe and Gabriel Martinelli have already signed theirs.
There’s confidence at the club that William Saliba, arguably the most challenging profile to extend, will also commit his future to the Gunners, football.london understands.
The club has returned to its principles of wanting to win. To be at the top and compete for the biggest and best trophies around.
Sure, under Mikel Arteta they lack the pedigree that Wenger had after his three league titles, but this season suggests that the Spaniard is heading in that direction. Who knows? Maybe this season’s chances aren’t yet over.
Either way, it is evident to everyone and, importantly, every player that Arsenal are back on the map as a side where you have the chance to compete for the top-tier trophies and improve. Look at Gabriel, Martinelli, Granit Xhaka, Saka, White, Ramsdale. The list goes on.
Arteta is taking players and making them better, making them players who are trying to take down the dominant force that is Manchester City. Arteta and Edu have built this team back, with help from those around them, and now is the time to put that allure the Gunners have into action this summer.
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