Arsenal Shortlisted More Than 20 Players to Build on Title Win

Arsenal entered the 2026 summer transfer window as Premier League champions with a clear opportunity to strengthen their position at the top of English football.

There was a sense around the Emirates Stadium that several of their main rivals were facing periods of change, particularly because of managerial uncertainty. That appeared to create an ideal moment for Arsenal to make a major statement in the transfer market.

The club’s recruitment plans were certainly ambitious. More than 20 players were placed on their shortlist, with targets identified at some of Europe’s biggest clubs, including Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid, as well as Premier League rivals Chelsea and Tottenham.

However, when the window finally closed on Tuesday night, there was an unmistakable feeling that Arsenal had not achieved everything they had originally set out to accomplish.

The summer contained plenty of positives, but the club also experienced a number of setbacks and frustrations.

With Arsenal preparing to face Chelsea at home on Sunday, attention will now turn to whether manager Mikel Arteta, sporting director Andrea Berta and owners Kroenke Sports & Entertainment can regard the club’s summer recruitment operation as a success.

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Arsenal’s Summer Signings

Arsenal completed five notable additions during the summer transfer window.

The headline arrival was Bruno Guimaraes, while Ezri Konsa also represented a major investment in Premier League experience.

Piero Hincapie’s loan move was made permanent, while goalkeeper Illan Meslier arrived without a transfer fee. Christos Tzolis was another important attacking addition after making the move from Club Brugge.

Why Arsenal Chose Guimaraes

The signing of Bruno Guimaraes from Newcastle United for £75m was arguably Arsenal’s biggest statement of the summer.

The midfielder had been monitored by Arsenal before the window opened, although he was not initially regarded as their only midfield priority.

Elliot Anderson was one of the players Arsenal were interested in, but it became increasingly apparent that the England international was heading to Manchester City.

Arsenal also considered Newcastle midfielder Sandro Tonali and Bournemouth’s Alex Scott. Both players were younger than Guimaraes, with Tonali aged 26 and Scott 23, compared with Guimaraes, who turns 29 in November.

However, several factors worked against those alternatives. Availability and cost were important considerations, particularly after Tonali eventually joined Tottenham for a fee that could reach at least £92m.

Aston Villa’s Amadou Onana was another midfielder considered, but his serious knee injury at the World Cup complicated that possibility.

By the middle of June, Guimaraes had become Arsenal’s preferred option and had widespread support within the club.

Berta already had a strong relationship with the player’s representatives, while Arteta was an admirer of the Brazilian midfielder. The Arsenal manager had made it clear that he wanted established, proven quality capable of improving his starting XI rather than simply adding depth to the squad.

Berta’s relationship with Guimaraes’ representatives helped Arsenal progress with the transfer. Newcastle subsequently maintained that they had received no direct contact from Arsenal until only a few days before the deal was completed.

Using intermediaries is not unusual for Berta, although the strategy has produced mixed results during his time at the club.

Arsenal also pursued Leicester City youngsters Jeremy Monga and Louis Page during the summer. However, sources indicated that the absence of direct club-to-club negotiations ultimately contributed to neither player joining Arsenal.

Monga eventually moved to Manchester City after appearing close to a switch to the Emirates.

Despite those disappointments, Berta received significant internal praise for successfully changing direction and pushing through the Guimaraes deal once other midfield options became unrealistic.

Arsenal Had More Than 20 Transfer Targets

The scale of Arsenal’s summer recruitment operation can be seen from the extensive list of players considered by the club.

The list demonstrates just how broad Arsenal’s search was, particularly in midfield, attack and defence.

Konsa Was Arsenal’s Preferred Defensive Target

Ezri Konsa’s arrival from Aston Villa was another significant piece of Arsenal’s recruitment strategy.

Internally, Konsa was regarded as Arteta’s preferred defensive target. His Premier League experience fitted the manager’s desire to bring in players already accustomed to the intensity and demands of English football.

That thinking also influenced the pursuit of Guimaraes and the club’s unsuccessful attempts to sign Morgan Rogers from Aston Villa.

Konsa’s ability to operate at right-back made him particularly attractive. Arsenal had considered signing a specialist right-back, with Ivan Fresneda among the players on their list, but Konsa’s versatility offered the squad another tactical option.

However, Berta was initially unwilling to meet Aston Villa’s valuation.

Around a week before the transfer was eventually completed, Arsenal reportedly submitted a £40m offer, which Villa rejected.

The agreement was ultimately reached with involvement from the ownership groups at both clubs. Konsa joined Arsenal for £51m, with a further £4m available in add-ons.

Had Arsenal failed to secure the deal, Tottenham’s Cristian Romero and Micky van der Ven were understood to be alternative defensive targets. However, their north London rivals were unwilling to sell either player to Arsenal.

Como centre-back Jacobo Ramon remains a player Arsenal are expected to keep an eye on, although clauses in his existing contract make a deal complicated.

Tarik Muharemovic was another defender considered before he eventually joined Leeds United.

Tzolis Emerges as a Positive Addition

Christos Tzolis has quickly become one of the more intriguing additions to Arsenal’s squad.

The Greece international arrived from Club Brugge in a deal worth approximately £35m and has already been regarded as one of the summer’s notable discoveries.

The possibility of signing the former Norwich winger was initially brought forward by an intermediary with links to a senior member of Arsenal’s coaching staff.

Berta’s deputy, Maurizio Micheli, subsequently watched Tzolis represent Greece against Sweden in June and came away impressed by what he saw.

At 24, Tzolis provides Arsenal with another attacking option and, based on the early assessment supplied in the original report, has made a positive impression since moving to north London.

Alongside Tzolis, Arsenal completed the permanent signing of Piero Hincapie following his loan spell and brought in Illan Meslier on a free transfer.

The club remains satisfied with the players it managed to bring through the door.

However, the combined £126m spent on Guimaraes and Konsa has raised questions because both players will be 30 by the end of next season.

There are understandable concerns about whether signing two players of that age for such a significant combined fee could affect Arsenal’s longer-term squad development.

At the same time, both players bring considerable Premier League experience and high-level quality. Arsenal believe they ultimately paid the market rate required to secure them.

Arsenal Fail to Land a Marquee Attacker

The biggest disappointment of the summer came in Arsenal’s attempt to add another elite attacking player.

While Arteta received proven reinforcements in midfield and defence, Berta was unable to complete the signing of the high-profile attacker the club had wanted.

Morgan Rogers was Arsenal’s leading target at the beginning of the window, with the club initially receiving encouraging indications that the Aston Villa forward was interested in the move.

Arsenal understood that Villa valued Rogers at around £100m, while the Gunners believed his value was closer to £80m.

Berta was confident that negotiations could bring the asking price down to a level Arsenal were prepared to pay.

At the same time, Arsenal explored alternative options, including Bradley Barcola, Kenan Yildiz, Yan Diomande and Nico Paz.

Anthony Gordon had also been a long-term target, although he had already agreed before the World Cup to join Barcelona.

Yildiz and Paz are expected to remain realistic possibilities for Arsenal in the future, while Eli Junior Kroupi is another player the club intends to continue monitoring after his return from injury at Bournemouth.

The situation surrounding Rogers changed dramatically when Elliot Anderson completed his £116m move from Nottingham Forest to Manchester City.

Villa subsequently raised their valuation of Rogers to £120m, before Chelsea eventually secured the attacker for £117m.

Arsenal were reportedly given the chance to match Chelsea’s offer but chose not to do so, maintaining that their £80m valuation represented a fair price.

That decision has inevitably led to questions over whether Arsenal could have signed Rogers had Berta acted earlier in the window.

The failure to secure Rogers was only the beginning of Arsenal’s difficulties in their search for a top-level left-sided attacker.

Vinicius Jr Deal Ends in Disappointment

Arsenal genuinely believed they had a chance of signing Real Madrid star Vinicius Jr.

Both Berta and Arteta were strongly behind the idea of bringing the Brazil international to the Emirates, and the club were prepared to finance what would have been an enormous deal.

A transfer for Vinicius would probably have required a British-record fee and potentially one of the largest salary packages in Premier League history.

Arsenal nevertheless believed that the sporting value of adding such a player, combined with Vinicius’ enormous commercial appeal, justified the investment.

However, there were concerns throughout the summer that Vinicius had little desire to leave Real Madrid.

There was also speculation that Arsenal’s interest could be used as leverage in the player’s negotiations for a more lucrative contract at the Santiago Bernabeu.

Those fears eventually proved justified when Vinicius committed his future to Real Madrid by signing a new long-term agreement.

For Arsenal, it represented another frustrating outcome in their pursuit of an elite forward.

Alvarez Pursuit Also Comes to Nothing

Arsenal’s pursuit of Julian Alvarez created similar questions.

The Atletico Madrid striker showed little indication that he was ready to move to north London. His preference for Barcelona was widely understood throughout the transfer window.

Atletico’s refusal to sell Alvarez to Barcelona encouraged Arsenal to continue exploring a possible deal.

Berta and Arteta remained hopeful that the situation could change and continued their interest until the final stages of the window.

However, Alvarez ultimately chose to stay at Atletico, despite the fact that his relationship with the Spanish club was reportedly at a particularly difficult point.

Whether Arsenal spent too much time pursuing Vinicius and Alvarez remains open to debate.

Once it became increasingly unlikely that Alvarez would be available, Berta continued to investigate alternative solutions.

Chelsea striker Joao Pedro was one player Arsenal admired. However, Chelsea considered him unavailable during the summer, while Arsenal also had concerns about how effectively he would fit into Arteta’s tactical system.

Berta’s Network Influences Recruitment

One of the notable aspects of Arsenal’s recruitment strategy is Berta’s reliance on his extensive network of agent relationships.

The sporting director is understood to make considerable use of those connections when identifying and assessing potential targets, rather than relying exclusively on the club’s established scouting information.

A similar situation occurred last summer.

Arsenal’s scouting department had strongly favoured Benjamin Sesko, but following Berta’s arrival, the club changed direction and ultimately signed Viktor Gyokeres, who is currently the team’s second-choice striker.

Malick Fofana provided another example this summer.

The Lyon winger emerged as a late possibility after management agency Roc Nation offered Arsenal the opportunity to sign the Belgium international.

Berta’s relationship with Roc Nation was particularly relevant during the summer because the agency represents both Vinicius and former Arsenal forward Gabriel Martinelli.

Martinelli’s £60m transfer to Al-Hilal was also part of Arsenal’s wider summer activity.

It remains to be seen whether the club’s failure to add another established elite attacker will have a significant effect on the season, particularly after Martinelli and Leandro Trossard both departed.

Arsenal Increasingly Focused on Player Trading

Arsenal entered the summer with another important objective beyond simply strengthening Arteta’s squad.

The club wanted to become more sustainable and improve its ability to buy and sell players effectively.

Financial compliance was an important part of that strategy, with Arsenal needing to operate within domestic and European financial regulations.

Depending on the eventual costs involved, deals for players such as Vinicius or Alvarez could potentially have created additional financial complications.

As a result, maximising the value of player sales is expected to become an increasingly important part of Arsenal’s financial model.

There was already clear evidence of this approach during the summer.

Martinelli’s £60m move to Al-Hilal became Arsenal’s record sale, while the club also negotiated a sell-on clause as part of the agreement.

Arsenal’s departures of Martinelli, Trossard, Gabriel Jesus, Christian Norgaard, Jakub Kiwior, Fabio Vieira and Karl Hein generated approximately £114m.

The club also explored a potential move for Myles Lewis-Skelly through intermediaries, with a fee of around £80m reportedly discussed.

Manchester United were interested in the versatile youngster, particularly because of his ability to play at left-back, but they ultimately considered the valuation too high.

While it is Berta’s responsibility to understand the market for Arsenal’s players and determine their value, the possibility of Lewis-Skelly leaving prompted a significant reaction from supporters.

Arsenal also resisted the option of selling Ethan Nwaneri permanently.

Instead, the academy graduate joined Borussia Dortmund on a season-long loan that includes a January recall clause should Arsenal need him back.

The club also considers the minimum £15m received from Besiktas for Trossard to be a favourable outcome, particularly given that the Belgian forward will turn 32 in December.

Questions Remain Despite Premier League Success

Berta has overseen almost £450m of Arsenal transfer spending across 12 months, with the club’s recruitment activity contributing to their first league title in 22 years.

There is no doubt that Arsenal have added significant quality.

Guimaraes and Konsa provide experience and proven ability, while Tzolis has offered another intriguing attacking option. Hincapie and Meslier have also strengthened the squad.

However, the summer has not completely solved Arsenal’s problems.

The most obvious concern remains in attack, where the club failed to secure the marquee signing that Arteta and Berta had hoped to deliver.

The departures of Martinelli and Trossard make that issue even more significant.

The age profile of the squad has also changed following the arrivals of Guimaraes and Konsa. Both players should provide immediate quality, but Arsenal must consider how the current group can sustain success before another major squad rebuild becomes necessary.

For now, the club can point to a Premier League title and several high-quality additions.

But after entering the summer with a shortlist of more than 20 potential targets, Arsenal supporters may still wonder whether the club missed an opportunity to build an even stronger foundation for the years ahead.