Arsenal finished their summer business with a deal signing Takehiro Tomiyasu from Bologna on deadline day. That concluded a transfer window bringing six players to North London for around £140m overall. The club, Mikel Arteta and Edu Gaspar faced immediate criticism for their signings, especially pointing to the high transfer fees on players many perceived as simply ‘average’.
Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville questioned Arsenal’s transfer strategy, describing it as ‘a bit all over the place’. A couple months on and surely those doubts are no more. Five of Arsenal’s signings are starting regularly in Mikel Arteta’s side, with the exception of Martin Odegaard who has endured a slow start to the season but shined in moments. Ben White, Tomiyasu, Aaron Ramsdale and Sambi Lokonga have been amongst Arsenal’s best and most consistent performers. Nuno Tavares has only come into the side for the last few games yet has been exceptional in those games.
Those signings and the business Arsenal conducted look to be a success on the pitch performance-wise but also in the way the new recruits interact with their teammates. Arsenal’s new look defence is forged of players fighting for each-other. Ramsdale, White, Tomiyasu and Tavares are regularly seen high fiving and fist bumping to celebrate blocks, tackles and saves. Lokonga and Odegaard are the same when on the pitch.
A moment in the Leicester game highlighted this. Ramsdale had rose highest to claim over Leicester defender Johnny Evans, the centre-half leaving a boot on Ramsdale as he went down. Ramsdale, aggrieved, rose to confront Evans and was instantly surrounded by a collection of his Arsenal teammates. By stepping in, they avoided any possible red card action while also backing up their goalkeeper. It was a true show of togetherness and something we haven’t seen enough in recent Arsenal teams.
Signings that represent a shift in mentality
This seems to be a theme in Mikel Arteta’s signings. The personality he is bringing to the club must possess qualities in line with the mentality the Arsenal boss wants to promote. Camaraderie. Leadership. Commitment. Arteta has sought to add these attributes to his squad as much as possible in his time at the club.
When Arsenal were close to signing Ben White and Aaron Ramsdale, Arteta sought to find out more about the two England Internationals. Bukayo Saka had spent the summer at the Euros with the pair and the Arsenal Manager was eager to hear the teenager’s opinions on his potential new team-mates.
According to The Athletic, Saka’s review of Ben White was ‘overwhelmingly positive’. Ramsdale speaking to the England Youtube channel spoke of how Saka was also pivotal in his transfer, “Agent Saka. That’s what he says. He said the Manager spoke to him a couple of times and thankfully he gave a good review of me.” Since signing, both have been a revelation. They have engaged in the new-found companionship in the dressing room and both displayed leadership and commitment. It’s clear Arteta’s trust in his young starlet’s opinion has paid dividends.
Similar qualities were found in Takehiro Tomiyasu and Albert Sambi Lokonga. Tomiyasu has fully embraced the new-found culture at the club with his fellow defenders and was known as a hard-working, committed individual by his former Coaches.
When signing Sambi, Arteta again sought the opinion of a trusted friend. Vincent Kompany was coached by Arteta for a few years in the twilight of his Manchester City career, before leaving to RSC Anderlecht where he would eventually become Manager. Sambi therefore was Kompany’s player and the Manchester City legend gave high praise of the young midfielder, eventually leading to an Arsenal move.
Sambi had become Anderlecht Captain before leaving and despite being just 21 years of age, has displayed great leadership qualities since joining Arsenal. Sambi was thrown into Arsenal’s Premier League starting XI from the start due to Thomas Partey’s injury and instantly impressed. Despite Arsenal’s poor start to the season, Sambi performed well and has kept his place in the team to become a regular starter alongside Partey.
Even looking outside of last summer’s window, Arteta’s signings have retained these values. Gabriel Magalhaes has enjoyed an exceptional first 18 months at the club, emerging as one of Arsenal’s best players and a future Captaincy candidate. Thomas Partey’s influence has unfortunately been limited due to injuries but the Ghanaian has a calming, fluid presence on his team-mates whenever on the pitch.
The new Arsenal
Many questions have been asked of Mikel Arteta and Arsenal since the Spaniard re-joined the club and rightly so. However the Arsenal boss has always maintained a clear goal since joining. To change the culture. On the day the Arteta became Arsenal Head Coach, a line from his press conference stands out.
“Anyone who does not buy into this, has a negative effect, is not good enough for this environment and culture.”
It is clear Arteta is building a specific mentality at Arsenal. One of togetherness, ‘unity’ was a word used often in a recent interview. Signings are a part of this and by targeting young, hungry players, Arsenal are laying the foundations to build under Mikel Arteta.
In the coming months, Arsenal new team and new mentality will be tested. How they deal with those tests will define this club’s season and the immediate future there-after.