#17 - A deep dive into Arsenal’s squad options for 2023/24 season

A closer look at Arsenal's depth for the 2023/24 season following the conclusion of the summer transfer window.

Welcome back to the newsletter. The transfer window is shut and Arsenal’s squad is locked in until at least January 2024. Have we done enough? In this weeks issue, I take a closer look at our depth of options. There’s also a new podcast. Please subscribe for free below if you haven’t already!

Arsenal head back into the Champions League for the first time in seven years, and despite making some big signings at the start of the window, the club's options perhaps don’t look as tasty as we may have hoped back in July. 

But Arteta and Edu are building a team of multi-functional players and there are options. Let’s take a look at the squad we’ve been left with in more detail, highlighting where academy players may have to step up in the process and take their chances, just like Bukayo Saka once did. 

Defence

Firstly goalkeepers. No real need to analyse that one. Aaron Ramsdale and David Raya are going to compete / share minutes between the sticks across the competitions, whilst Karl Hein will be the emergency third choice. 

In defence, what stands out is the need to keep the likes of Zinchenko and Tomiyasu fit. Two players who have struggled to maintain fitness in the past. It feels like a bit of a gamble from the club. There also is potentially a significant senior role for young Reuell Walters. The club have been very bullish about the players potential in the last year or so and they will have to back up that confidence with minutes on the pitch this season if the Gunners pick up a couple of injuries. 

Right back looks particularly stressed when you consider Partey’s fitness issues and the fact that he and Tomiyasu will be absent in January to compete for their countries in the AFCON and Asian Cup respectively. Walters is also able to play as a right-back so could provide cover there. 

January signing Jakub Kiwior has shown promise at times but also some vulnerabilities. He is keen for more game time and will certainly get that opportunity following the departures of the likes of Kieran Tierney and Rob Holding this summer. 

Midfield

Arsenal’s midfield options are interesting. There’s some flexibility that would be impossible to fully plot in the above table. For example, Rice can play as the left 8, Trossard/Vieira/ESR on both sides. Interestingly though, again there could be some sneaky minutes available for an academy player, see Nwaneri. He got a few minutes against Brentford in that role last season and following signing his new contract with the club, I wouldn’t be surprised to see him at least get some minutes in the cups. 

Again though, Arsenal will need to avoid any cluster injuries in order to not be very stretched. The likes of Partey, Havertz, and Rice covering multiple roles across defence, midfield and attack will increase the impact of any injury to these players. 

Forwards 

In the frontline Arsenal have some very different profiles. What worries me a little is that beyond an injury prone Nelson, there’s no real natural back up to either Saka or Martinelli, so Arsenal will need them to stay fit and deliver consistently again this year, in the Champions League as well. 

If he can stay fit though, there are certainly a lot of minutes in this season for Nelson, who is capable of playing on both wings and showed in cameos last season that he has a lot of quality. 

Arteta will like the fact he has several different profiles of forwards to choose from, especially at centre forward. Nketiah has really grown into a real option there, we know how good Jesus is, Havertz showed his unique qualities in that role against Manchester City in the Community Shield and we saw how good Trossard can do in that position last season. 

What could count against the team is we maybe don’t quite know yet where Trossard, Havertz, Smith Rowe and some others best positions are. Arteta will hope they can impact games from the bench in different areas, whilst also being able to start games where required. 

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Overall I think the squad looks a bit short in some areas. My main concern is in defence, where the likes of Partey, Zinchenko, Tomiyasu and Saliba have shown either serious recent injuries or consistent inability to stay fit for long periods. If that happens again for two or three of them this season, we are going to need to throw the likes of Reuell Walters in at the deep end, or even promote someone like academy left-back Lino Sousa. 

Sometimes that is what’s needed for these young players to breakthrough and I’m glad that in the absence of more signings, the club still decided to approve the sale of Rob Holding and loan moves for Kieran Tierney and Nuno Tavares. I feel none of these players were the right fit for the team and ultimately they would be fringe players in the season and block the path for players like Walters to get opportunities. 

Time will tell if this window has been enough for Arsenal to compete for trophies, but my instinct is that they will need to return to the market come January. We may have to rely on the organic improvement of a young squad if we are to see a marked improvement on last season, especially considering our participation in the Champions League. 

Podcast

Just before the deadline, myself and Pet did a quick podcast about our transfer activity and looked ahead to the game against Manchester United on Sunday. Listen below, or you can also find, listen and subscribe to us on Apple and Spotify as well as other podcast providers.