Report: Arsenal set for disappointing end to the transfer window | OneFootball

Arsenal Transfer Deadline Day: Left Wing Doubts Remain as Mikel Arteta Backs Late Push

Arsenal’s summer has been busy, expensive and, in key areas, logical. The squad has been refreshed, the depth chart has changed and Mikel Arteta has clearly been backed. But as deadline day closes in, there is still one obvious issue hanging over the window, left wing.

According to The Athletic, Arsenal are unlikely to make another signing before the deadline, despite ongoing work behind the scenes. That feels plausible. The heavy lifting has largely been done. Christos Tzolis, Bruno Guimaraes, Ezri Konsa and Illan Meslier have all arrived for the first-team squad, and those are serious additions. They give Arsenal more technical quality, more experience and, in Guimaraes’ case, more authority in midfield.

Still, the window will not be judged purely on volume. It will be judged on whether Arsenal solved the hardest attacking questions. Right now, the answer looks incomplete.

Arsenal transfers point to unfinished attacking business

The report states that Arsenal have continued to chase what it calls “another elite attacker”. That is the important line, because it tells you the club know there is still another level to reach in the front line. The names mentioned are not speculative filler either. There have been “high-profile pursuits of Morgan Rogers and Vinicius Junior”, and Arsenal have also “positioned themselves as suitors for Julian Alvarez should he be willing to leave Atletico Madrid for a club other than Barcelona.”

That is an ambitious list. It also reflects Arsenal’s status now. They are shopping at the top end. The problem is that top-end signings late in the window require every moving part to click at once, selling club, player, wages, fee, timing. As The Athletic puts it, “having left it so late, multiple factors would have to align for a deal to be successfully concluded.” That is blunt, and fair.

There is no point pretending otherwise. If Arsenal end the day without another attacker, it will not be because they did not know what they wanted. It will be because premium attacking deals are difficult to close when the clock is against you.

Arteta himself has kept the message simple. After the 1-0 win against Aston Villa, he said: “We are trying to improve the squad, and until tomorrow night we’re going to try to do that.” No grandstanding, no theatre, no fake certainty. Just the standard line of a manager who would clearly welcome one more option.

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Left wing concern remains central issue

This is where the real conversation starts. Arsenal may have enough bodies across the attack, but that is not the same as having the right balance. The report makes the key point clearly: “The remaining question is over the left-wing position.” That is the issue. Not centre-forward, not midfield, not defence. Left wing.

Gabriel Jesus was effectively third choice at centre-forward, behind Kai Havertz and Viktor Gyokeres. Add Mikel Merino as emergency cover and Arsenal can survive there. You may debate the pecking order, but there are at least options. The left side is different.

The report notes that Arsenal “have allowed Martinelli and Leandro Trossard to leave, while bringing in only Tzolis to replace them.” That is a major shift. Martinelli gave the side direct running, recovery pace and threat in transition. Trossard brought control in tighter spaces, goals from awkward angles and the ability to play multiple attacking roles. Losing both in the same window changes the profile of the squad.

Yes, Eberechi Eze and Noni Madueke can operate from the left. But possible options are not the same as specialist solutions. The fact Arsenal pushed for Rogers and Vinicius Jr tells its own story. As The Athletic says, those pursuits “shows they believe that the left flank can be improved upon.” Exactly.

This is not nit-picking. Elite squads are usually defined by where they are one injury away from a problem. Arsenal’s left side now looks like that pressure point.

Martinelli and Jesus exits signal major reshaping

There is another angle here, the scale of the departures. Arsenal are not trimming around the edges. They are making serious decisions on established names.

“Brazilian forwards Gabriel Martinelli and Gabriel Jesus are set to depart for Al Hilal and Barcelona.” Martinelli’s deal is especially striking. The €70million fee, listed as “£60m; $81m” in the report, will be “a club-record sale.” That matters. Arsenal have not always sold well in recent years, so banking £60m for Martinelli is significant business even if supporters will have mixed feelings about the football side of it.

Jesus leaving for Barcelona for an initial €10m, with a further €4.5m in add-ons, is less dramatic financially but still important tactically. He was no longer central to Arsenal’s plans, yet he remained a useful squad player when fit. His departure clears space, wages and minutes. It also raises the stakes on any incoming attacker, because replacing volume with quality only works if the quality arrives.

Fabio Vieira’s permanent move to Hamburg and Ethan Nwaneri’s medical ahead of a move to Borussia Dortmund show the same principle at work. Arsenal are not clinging to every talented player in the hope it might somehow click later. They are making calls. That can be healthy. It can also be risky when young attacking depth leaves the building.

Tommy Setford being available for a loan is routine enough, but the broader pattern is what matters. Arsenal are clearing out as much as they are adding. This is a deliberate reshape, not random market activity.

Malick Fofana could be pragmatic late solution

With the premium targets proving difficult, Arsenal appear to have a more realistic fallback in mind. The report says sporting director Andrea Berta has been “exploring a possible deal for Lyon’s 21-year-old Malick Fofana.” It adds that “The Belgium international would be keen to join Arsenal should they choose to proceed.”

That sounds like the kind of move that makes sense late in the window. Younger, talented, attainable, and likely more flexible in negotiations than a blockbuster name at an elite club. Fofana may not carry the glamour of Vinicius Jr or the all-round pedigree of Alvarez, but that is irrelevant if the fit is right and the deal can actually be done.

There is often too much obsession with names and not enough with role. Arsenal need a left-sided attacker who can stretch the pitch, beat a man, threaten the back post and carry a one-v-one burden. If Berta believes Fofana can do that, the lack of star billing should not be a reason to hesitate.

The larger point is simple. Arsenal know there is a gap. They have tried to address it at the top table. They may now need to decide whether to act decisively on a more achievable target or carry the issue into the autumn.

And that is where windows are judged. Not by rumour volume, not by social media noise, but by whether a team entered the season with a clear weakness still visible. If Arsenal stop here, they still have a strong squad. They may also have left themselves short in exactly the area they spent weeks trying to improve.

That is not a disaster. It is also not ideal.

Arteta has earned trust, and the recruitment of Tzolis, Guimaraes, Konsa and Meslier gives Arsenal a stronger platform than they had before. But if the club really believe the left flank needs upgrading, and the evidence says they do, then ending the window without solving it would be a compromise, not a plan.

Our View

From an Arsenal  perspective, there is plenty to like here, but also an obvious frustration. The squad is stronger overall, and bringing in players like Bruno Guimaraes and Ezri Konsa shows the club are serious. This is not a timid market. It is an assertive one. Even so, the left-wing issue jumps off the page.

If the club were happy with the options there, they would not have chased Morgan Rogers, Vinicius Junior and Julian Alvarez. That tells supporters everything. Arsenal know there is a missing piece. Selling Gabriel Martinelli for £60m is strong business on paper, and Gabriel Jesus moving on also makes sense if Arteta sees him as expendable, but supporters will naturally ask the same question, where is the replacement who changes games from that side?

Christos Tzolis may yet prove a clever signing, and there is reason to be optimistic about Eberechi Eze and Noni Madueke offering flexibility, but title-chasing teams usually need one left-sided attacker who is undeniably top class in that role. Right now, that still feels unresolved.

The hopeful reading is that Andrea Berta gets something done, perhaps Malick Fofana, perhaps a surprise. The nervous reading is that Arsenal leave it for January and spend months hoping the balance works itself out. Supporters will back Arteta, but they will also know this squad is close enough to something special that one missing winger could matter a lot.