The 2024/25 season has simultaneously been one of progress, regression and stagnation for Arsenal.
Progress has come in Europe, where they reached the semi-finals of the Champions League for the first time since 2009.
In the Premier League, they have treaded water.
With three games to play and crowned champions, the Gunners are almost certain to finish second for the third year in a row.
However, this time – even if they win their remaining fixtures – they will do so with a significantly lower points tally than in the previous two seasons.
So despite encouraging signs of forward motion on the continent, a first league title since the Invincibles of 2004 remains agonisingly out of reach.
To ensure they have the best possible chance of ending that two-decade-plus drought, manager Mikel Arteta and new sporting director Andrea Berta will need to make some astute off-season additions.
Here are the three key areas of weakness that have held Arsenal back this term, with ambitious yet realistic transfer targets for each role.
Gyokeres the ideal striker target
The most damning statistic of Arsenal’s season is that, with 35 Premier League games played, they don’t possess a single player with a double-figures goals tally.
At present, Kai Havertz – a converted winger/attacking midfielder who has operated as a false 9 – is their top league scorer with just nine goals.
So, put simply and to state a point made constantly by pundits and fans alike for several seasons now, Arsenal need a striker.
With such a glaringly obvious hole in their weaponry, the Gunners have been linked with dozens of top goal-getters from around Europe in recent months.
One player whose name continues to arise in transfer rumours is Viktor Gyokeres of Sporting . Reports just this week claim Arsenal are set for talks over a deal for the prolific Swede later this month.
And while Gyokeres won’t be a cheap option – Sporting are said to be looking for upwards of £55 million for the 26-year-old – his skillset and scoring record suggest he’d be well worth the outlay.
A former winger, the ex-Brighton player has rapid pace, savvy movement inside the box and is a deadly finisher with either foot.
Since moving to the Portuguese capital two summers ago, he’s scored a staggering 95 goals – plus 27 assists – in 99 games.
Upgrade the left wing
The centre-forward position has been Arsenal’s most talked-about shortcoming, but it is not the only area of Arteta’s attack that is ripe for an upgrade.
Bukayo Saka is a phenomenon on the right side, Arsenal’s primary threat as scorer and creator and a player whose injury absence has hampered them greatly in periods this season.
But Saka’s production from the right serves to emphasise how lopsided the Gunners’ frontline is.
On the left, Gabriel Martinelli is a solid option but not a player who strikes fear into opponents. His return this season of nine goals and six assists in 49 all-competitions appearances is no disgrace, but adding a player of higher quality in this role could elevate Arsenal as an attacking force.
They have recently been linked – alongside long-time irers Rodrygo.
The versatile 24-year-old is considered expendable at the Bernabeu this summer, marginalised by the arrival of Vinicius Junior’s status as the team’s other superstar forward.
Rodrygo has still featured heavily this term for Carlo Ancelotti’s side, making 50 total appearances with 13 goals and 10 assists. But he is a peripheral figure within Los Blancos’ star-studded line-up.
What’s more, Rodrygo is most often forced to play on the right wing in Madrid, with Vinicius locking down the left and Mbappe fielded centrally.
A switch to the Emirates would allow him to feature from the left, a more natural role for a right-footed attacker who likes to move inside to threaten goal.
In Rodrygo, Arsenal would be getting a player with the pedigree of a Champions League winner and La Liga champion, but one whose best years remain ahead of him.
If there is room for negotiation in his reported €100 million price tag, he’d be a stellar g for the Gunners.
Charles the creator
Arsenal already have one of the best creative attacking midfielders in the Premier League in the form of captain Martin Odegaard.
But the Norwegian playmaker has suffered an alarming dip in form at the tail end of the 2024/25 campaign.
As such, the north Londoners would be wise to look to add a player who can ease the creative burden Odegaard carries.
One player who would fit the bill is Atalanta star has scored 13 goals and provided 11 assists this season after making his loan move from AC Milan permanent last summer.
The 24-year-old Belgian has the versatility to deputise for Odegaard or to play alongside the Arsenal star by shifting to a wider role or even as an auxiliary centre-forward when required.
After failing to meet expectations following a €35 million move to Milan from Club Brugge in 2022, De Ketelaere has established himself as one of the most accomplished and well-rounded attacking midfielders in Serie A since his switch to Bergamo.
He has so impressed, in fact, that reports claim Manchester City are plotting a swoop for the 21-cap Belgium international to act as compatriot Kevin De Bruyne’s replacement at the Etihad.
If Arsenal can move quickly to steal a march on City in the race for De Ketelaere, they could at once boost their own title chances while striking a pre-season blow against a rival.
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