The competition in the Premier League was already ridiculously tough for Arsenal before the takeover of Newcastle United brought the Magpies into the fold. The transfer window of 2022 sets the stage for a statement to be made by the European pretenders.
Arsenal have their own plans, but Newcastle have taken the lead in the transfer scores one-nil after confirming the arrival of Matt Targett on a permanent move from Aston Villa. However, this type of signing is not what will concern the Gunners with Bruno Guimaraes-level attempts yet to come.
The biggest links to the likes of Lucas Paqueta and Moussa Diaby continue to dominate the Newcastle discussion threads on transfers. Diaby in particular has been credited as a figure looked at by Arsenal in the past.
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The French international recorded 17 goals and 14 assists for Bayer Leverkusen last season. He worked in tandem with the second-highest Bundesliga goalscorer Patrik Schick brilliantly.
With Allan Saint-Maximin and Callum Wilson, adding a right-winger of Diaby’s quality would certainly make the attacking threat of Newcastle stand out in the Premier League. Although the reported £60m price tag is proving a problem with Football Insider claiming that the money might even be deemed too much for the Saudi-backed club.
The aforementioned Guimaraes was a deal that Arsenal had themselves tracked since his time in Brazil with Athletico Paranaense. Making the move to Lyon, when the time came for him to make a switch to England, Newcastle positioned themselves strongly to secure him.
Arsenal’s Champions League hopes were all but ended on Tyneside when the Brazilian scored the second in a 2-0 win over the Gunners. The irony was painful and the reality even more so.
As Arsenal chase primary targets Gabriel Jesus and Youri Tielemans with an aim to improve the squad with Premier League-proven talent, Mikel Arteta will know that keeping Newcastle at bay and avenging the defeat will be a tougher but necessary challenge next season. Arsenal are aware, perhaps more so than any other that spending money doesn’t guarantee progression.
The north London side have spent over a billion pounds on players since KSE’s first involvement with the club back in 2007. Yet, since then, Arsenal fell out of Europe entirely and only after some shrewd and smart spending in the last two summers has the slide been halted and the club has fought its way back into Europe.
Each year the phrase that is often banded around is that the likes of Manchester United, Spurs and Chelsea are going to be even better next season. In reality, there’s never a guarantee on improvement, just ask any United fan how their season went despite landing Raphael Varane, Jadon Sancho and Cristiano Ronaldo.
But a side like Newcastle improving looks a near certainty with what they can now access in comparison to previous seasons. Arsenal need to be ready and if they aren’t they could this time see themselves fall to the next pretender.
