Ready or not?

 "I think a project has its phases and I am telling you we are in a much better position today to be where we want to be very soon, if we do what we have to do. But we have to be ruthless."

Those were the words of Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta following the elimination from the Europa League at the hands of his predecessors Villareal. Very few would argue that the arsenal squad was in dire need of the ruthless overhaul that Arteta was talking about. Bloated in numbers but not in quality, it was obvious that there needed to be a significant number of outgoings along with some incomings to improve the talent level of the squad, and push the club back in to the European places in the forthcoming season. So, on the eve of the new season, what is the state of the squad and how much is still left to do? Lets take a look.

Goalkeepers

Going in to the new season, obviously Bernd Leno is the clear number 1 However, there is no competent back up in sight. The goalkeeping situation was one that very evidently needed sorting, and on paper could have been so simple to resolve. Following the sale of FA Cup hero Emi Martinez to Aston Villa at the end of the 19/20 season, it was obvious that a back up to Leno was needed. Step forward Alex Runarsson. Unfortunately, it became very obvious very quickly that Alex was not up to the job, so Matty Ryan was brought in from Brighton on loan and provided able back up. However, rather than sign him on a permanent deal we let him move on, with him landing at Real Sociedad. 

Therefore the recruitment of a new number 2 again became a priority and so began the long, protracted chase of Aaron Ramsdale from Sheffield United. A deal which has seemingly fallen through, and leaves Arsenal in the position of going in to week 1 of the Premier League season with a choice between Runarsson, 18 year old Arthur Okonkwo or 19 year old Karl Hein to occupy the bench. For a club of Arsenal's standing to have put themselves in this position is borderline amateurish. To be only one Neal Maupay-esque challenge away from one of those three keepers potentially needing to start against Chelsea in a weeks time will have all Arsenal fans watching the game through their fingers on Friday night. I think it's fair to say that this is an area that Arsenal have not achieved their goals as yet this summer. 

Bernd Leno lets Neal Maupay know
exactly what he thought of his challenge

Defenders

The complete opposite to the goalkeeping situation, numbers is not the problem here. 4 right backs in Chambers, Bellerin, Cedric and, if he wants to be, Ainsley Maitland-Niles, 3 left backs in Tierney, new recruit Tavares and Kolasinac, and 5 centre backs, with Chambers (again), Holding, Pablo Mari, Gabriel and £50 million new boy Ben White. In terms of in-bounds, it seems likely that the business is done in this area. A ball playing centre back and a decent back up for Tierney were key targets, so to have them both in before the season starts represents good business, whatever your view on the fees. Going in to the firstgame, for me Tierney and White are nailed on starters. who fills the left centre back and right back positions is anyone's guess, but I would be leaning towards Holding if he's fit and Chambers.

The focus now really needs to be on shifting players out of the door and recouping some of that money. Bellerin has not exactly made it a secret that he is ready for a new challenge, Kolasinac spent the second half of last season out on loan and clearly doesn't have a place in Arteta's plans. Cedric found himself third choice last season, so should surely be thinking about a move for the benefit of his career, and going in to the transfer window Maitland-Niles appeared on paper to be one of Arsenals more saleable assets. 

Unfortunately, shifting players that Arsenal don't believe to be good enough to be in a team that's finished 8th in two consecutive seasons is proving to be a bit trickier than any of us could have imagined. However, due to the successful recruitment in defence, I think we can reserve judgement until he window slams shut on this one. 

Ben White in action on his Emirates debut 

Midfielders

On paper, this was again seemingly straight forward in terms of what needed to be done: someone to play alongside Thomas Partey, someone to share the burden of creativity with Emile Smith-Rowe, and shifting on a plethora of squad fillers. So far, not a great deal of this has been done. 21 year old Albert Sambi Lokonga has come in from Anderlecht, surely with a view for the future, although has looked impressive in pre-season, and Joe Willock is close to joining Newcastle for a fee in the region of £25 million. This, whatever your thoughts on Joe and if you thought Arsenal should hold on to him, represents good business for a club who has traditionally struggled to make decent money from sales.

In amongst all this, Granit Xhaka has gone from fluttering his eyelashes at Jose Mourinho and Roma to bagging himself a new contract, and Thomas Partey has picked up an injury which will rule him out until after the international break. Far from ideal when a big season was both expected of and needed from Partey. Early transfer window speculation around Ruben Neves has died down, although this is not surprising considering the Xhaka contract news. Elneny remains, although is a competent if uninspiring backup. Lucas Torreira is training on his own in Spain, with rumours of a move to Lazio abound. Maitland-Niles also is still there as another option but again, should really be looking to move on, and there is still no sign of another creator, with interest clearly remaining in Martin Odegaard, and chatter of a move for James Maddison or Houssem Aouar from Lyon. New number 10 Smith-Rowe will shoulder the burden of creativity alone, for the start of the season at least.

All things considered, there is evidently still a great deal of work to do for Mikel and Edu in the remaining weeks of the window. As it stands none of the business to strengthen the starting XI that needed to be done at the start of the window has been done, so it looks like Lokonga could be thrust in to the Premier League limelight on day one. Overall this area has to be seen as a negative, although with two and a half weeks of the window left, there is time to turn it around.

Lokonga may have big shoes to fill
on Friday night

Forwards

The area of the squad that is so talent heavy, yet struggled the most last season. With players like Aubameyang, Lacazettee, Pepe, Saka and Martinelli, it never seemed to really click last season, with Arteta seemingly unable to find the right combination to get the best out of what he has.Aubameyang in particular struggled with only 10 goals,his lowest return in a full season since 2010. Finding the magic formula to get whichever front three he chooses firing on all cylinders is essential to Arsenal improving on their 8th place from last season. 

One of the more surprising aspects aspect of the window is the hunt for a new striker, with Lauturo Martinez and Tammy Abraham both linked to the club. This was not something that many predicted at the beginiing of the window, and should any deal come to pass, it would surely mean that Lacazette's time at the club was coming to an end. With only one year remaining on his contract, getting some money for him this summer is key.

It is fair to say that one of the most important pieces of business that needed doing here was tying down Folarin Balogun to a new deal. Arteta never wavered from his belief that this would be done and he was correct. This however should surely spell the end of Eddie Nketiah's time at Arsenal and it would be expected that the England U21 record scorer could expect a decent fee. It is worth remembering that Liverpool managed to extract £20m for Dominic Solanke from Bournemouth despite the fact he had never scored a Premier League goal. It remains to be seen if Eddie's injury hampers the prospect of a move.

All things considered, its hard to judge the attack. The talent is there, we just need to see if Arteta has been able to get them ticking like their quality suggests they should. If a Martinez was to come in and money was made from the sales of Lacazette and Nketiah though, this becomes a big thumbs up.

Arteta getting the best out of Aubameyang will
be key to an Arsenal improvement

Summary

Although it's a bit of a cop out, the only conclusion that i can come to is that it is too soon to judge. Early indications are that this as been a poor window, with none of the midfield business that needed to be done being done, and an awful lot of outgoings still remaining. It is fair to say though that the transfer window has been slow for everyone so far, with only the mega rich clubs really spending any money. Not like there's any top quality free agents been signed or anything....