Arsenal need to build a squad. Signing a striker won’t mean the end of Merino or Havertz

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This summer feels like the time for Arsenal to shift the emphasis of their squad building.

Much of Mikel Arteta’s focus in recent years has been on strengthening Arsenal’s foundations. That can be seen in the number of players signed in positions that require specific skill sets, whether physical or tactical. Goalkeeper and full-back are the most obvious examples, but the physical profile of midfield signings in the past two summers is another indicator.

Attention will now turn to addressing what is missing in attack. A centre-forward is the main addition to be expected, but finding better support options out wide is also a necessity. With midfielder Martin Zubimendi expected to join this summer, important players from recent seasons, such as Kai Havertz, Mikel Merino and even Gabriel Martinelli, could see their roles change.

Merino and Havertz’s minutes may take a hit next season should Arsenal sign Zubimendi and a new centre-forward. Merino, like Havertz, was signed to play in midfield but proved most useful at centre-forward, with six of his nine goals coming from that position. He will return to midfield with Havertz back fit after a three-month hamstring injury. Despite the injury, the Germany international scored 15 goals last season but can expect fresh competition for his starting spot.

There will be questions over the impact summer signings could have on Martinelli and others (Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)

Considering both are relatively new signings who have improved with time, that might seem harsh, but it is a necessary reality as Arteta looks to develop his side.

Compare the two benches when Arsenal met Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League semi-final first leg. Arteta could only call on two players of starting quality, one squad option who could leave, five who will depart this month and two youth players who have stayed. PSG, on the other hand, could and did turn to Goncalo Ramos, Bradley Barcola and Warren Zaire-Emery. They also had Presnel Kimpembe, Lee Kang-in and Lucas Hernandez available.

While players recovered from injury, Arteta had to fill his bench with players who are unlikely to feature frequently in the coming seasons. Before Arsenal were in title races, the 2021-22 season saw Mika Biereth, Omari Hutchinson, Salah-Eddine Oulad-M’hand and Charlie Patino regularly feature on the bench without coming off it. That situation cannot repeat itself for much longer.

If Arsenal have the opportunity to turn to Merino or Havertz from the bench, it will mean their squad has improved. Both players would prefer starting roles, but being ready to make an impact when needed would be better than running themselves into the ground and suffering serious muscle injuries, as Havertz and Bukayo Saka did this season.

Opinions may differ but one assessment former striker Thierry Henry made on The Overlap podcast felt particularly poignant.

“The most important thing is for the team to win,” he said when comparing his spell at Barcelona to his time at Arsenal. “If that goes through me, that goes through me. If that goes through someone else, it goes through someone else. At the end of the day, we were all celebrating the treble.

“That was the beauty of that (treble-winning) team of Manchester United. In the Champions League final, Dwight Yorke and Andy Cole didn’t score. On the way, they scored a lot (eight and four in Europe), but then Teddy Sheringham and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer scored in the final. This is how you win important trophies.”

Of the backup options, Leandro Trossard has displayed those reliable qualities. He played 56 of 58 available games last season, more than any other Arsenal player — although he only started two-thirds (37) of those. Having more options like him cannot hurt.

Trossard has been a useful option (Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)

Henry’s point about supposed bench players can also be seen in both the past and present of successful Arsenal teams. While the former France forward scored 24 league goals to win his first Premier League title with Arsenal in 2001-02, he did not score the goal that secured the silverware. He was at home watching with a bruised knee as Sylvain Wiltord scored the only goal in a 1-0 win at Old Trafford in the penultimate game of the season.

Of course, Arsenal playing with two strikers made a difference then, but Wiltord’s numbers were not dissimilar to those of Dennis Bergkamp. He started 23 league games and scored 10 goals, whereas the Dutchman started 22 league games and scored nine goals. Henry started 31 league games that season, so the role as his support option differed from game to game.

For a more direct comparison, you can look at the front line of Arsenal’s women’s team in recent season. Stina Blackstenius was signed in January 2022 in a move that signalled the beginning of the end for Vivianne Miedema at the club.

The following season, 2022-23, she started 20 league games. Arsenal still reinforced their attack by signing Alessia Russo, who has grown into her role as the first-choice option up front, winning the Football Writers’ Association Player of the Year this season with 20 goals in all competitions, but it was Blackstenius who replaced her to offer something different and score the winner in the Champions League final.

Arteta has not had the same luxury in attack, partially because of injuries but the way his squad has been built is also a factor. This summer offers an opportunity to get closer to that by improving the depth of Arsenal’s attacking quality, but without discounting those who have helped them reach this position.

Arteta has not been shy to upgrade on loved squad members before, but often those players have been left by the wayside without a route back. In goal, that pipeline can be seen in the evolution from Bernd Leno to Aaron Ramsdale and then David Raya. At left-back, it has been just as evident with the movement from Kieran Tierney to Oleksandr Zinchenko and now Myles Lewis-Skelly.

Once their starting spot has been lost, they have struggled for minutes. They then leave to better their own careers. Emile Smith Rowe is another prime example, going from a player who helped transform Arsenal under Arteta to one who struggled to get meaningful minutes before moving to Fulham last summer.

There should be opportunities for Merino, Havertz and Martinelli to make an impact on Arsenal’s season, even if they are not starting every game. Rather than taking a binary view on what certain signings could mean for existing players, there needs to be an understanding that it is hard to predict what might happen across a season. Injuries and unavailability, plus the sheer number of matches, mean there will be opportunities.

Whoever enters the building this summer, Arsenal’s front line needs quality additions while maintaining and improving the existing options.

(Top photo: Glyn Kirk/AFP via Getty Images)

This news was originally published on this post .

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