Arsenal's £267m transfer spend means injuries are no excuse - Mikel Arteta must deliver
Arsenal lead the Premier League and after a successful summer in the transfer market there are few excuses for Mikel Arteta's side not to go one place better in the division
It's only October and already Arsenal are well-fancied favourites for the Premier League title. They sit top of the table while rivals Liverpool and Manchester City falter and look to have a squad capable of challenging to the very end.
That's credit to them. After three years of finishing as runners-up in the top-flight, questions are inevitably asked. Can they get over the line?
The Gunners finished 10 points behind Liverpool, who set the pace for all of 2024/25, last term. They weren't close as the Reds found success with a month to spare.
But Mikel Arteta's side reflected and looked to improve upon their deficiencies. Arsenal finally signed a striker, but more crucially found greater depth.
Too often last season, the north London side found themselves faltering as injuries to Martin Odegaard, Bukayo Saka, Kai Havertz, Gabriel Jesus and others impacted them on the pitch. A spend of £267million later, and they will hope to have resolved those issues.
READ MORE: Arsenal drop Max Dowman and Piero Hincapie hint before Brighton cup clashREAD MORE: Football's lawmakers ponder handing MORE power to VAR despite continued controversyThey signed a striker as Viktor Gyokeres arrived. Eberechi Eze and Noni Madueke arrived to bring England international back-ups to Odegaard and Saka. Midfield reinforcements are in place at the Emirates in Christian Norgaard and Martin Zubimendi.
They have not spent the most, but they have spent what they needed. Presumptions that it is Arsenal's league to lose are premature, but they are in a strong position to win.
Even with injuries to William Saliba and Gabriel Martinelli suffered at the weekend, Arteta is in no position to lament too much. Cristhian Mosquera was signed in the summer, in addition to Piero Hincapie; options are available even for one of the league's best defenders.
But it is not enough to say Arsenal cannot use injuries as an excuse anymore. It seems clear they do not want to.
Spain midfielder Zubimendi, despite not being around, has already acknowledged that last season's squad felt they ran out of steam due to injuries. In doing so, he also expressed the club's success in providing two options in each position for Arteta in the transfer market.
"From what teammates have said to me, the problem was the injuries, that when someone got injured, the team came undone," said Zubimendi earlier this month.
“This year the club has invested a lot in having two players in every position.”
The messaging to new signings would indicate that club does not want to have easy excuses. Now it is time for Arsenal to manage their squad to compete on multiple fronts and to sustain a title charge.
If they come up short again, questions will be asked of Arteta. It will be for others to decide if the margins are simply that small. But they will have to find another way to be better.
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