Aside from the excellence that Arsenal are serving up on the pitch at present, their transfer business has got everyone sitting up and taking notice.
It’s taken a while for Mikel Arteta to get his squad just how he wants, but the fruits of his labour can certainly be seen over the past 12-18 months. All that’s missing at this point is some more major silverware.
Sitting pretty atop the Premier League table is exactly where the Spaniard will have wanted to be at this stage of the season, but Arteta will surely remind his players about how things panned out in 22/23.
With a far less hungry Man City side now six points behind them, the Gunners need to withstand the title challenges of next opponents, Aston Villa, and Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool.
As their last-gasp win at Luton Town showed, Arsenal certainly have the resilience that betrayed them towards the back end of last season, and the question will be whether then can remain steadfast and resolute at the business end of 2023/24.
According to David Ornstein of The Athletic (subscription required), Mikel Arteta is on the lookout for another midfielder.
“I think Arsenal would like to add a midfielder at some point,” he said.
“We know they like Zubimendi, Barella, Neto and others but again I don’t know of any movement of that.
“Neves is staying in Saudi, I can’t see Villa letting Luiz go and to my knowledge Arsenal were not seriously looking at either for this window anyway.”
The likelihood therefore is that any midfielder isn’t likely to arrive until next summer, by which time the Gunners will surely be considering moving Thomas Partey on if they haven’t already.
“Barella is one of the top three midfielders in Europe and he is worth €90million (£77million),” Nicola Berti said to Tuttosport, (h/t Football Transfers.)
“Surely, he is the best midfielder in Italy, even if there is not the same competition there was when I was a footballer.
“If he is the best midfielder in Italy, then he must be one of the best in Europe and for me he is among the top three.”