Arsenal summer transfer news, odds & predicted Mikel Arteta starting line-ups

Mikel Arteta is preparing for another season in charge of Arsenal and after finishing second to Manchester City two years running, the Spaniard will have his eyes on the title.

Especially last season, the Gunners were incredibly unfortunate not to be crowned champions for the first time since 2004, taking the title race down to the final day before ultimately finishing two points behind Manchester City.

With that in mind, there’s a big season to come, with Arteta greatly raising expectations among Arsenal supporters, who will at the very least expect their side to remain competitive at the top of the table, perhaps with a cup run to secure some silverware. They have been very limited in the market so far this summer, converting the loan of goalkeeper David Raya into a permanent transfer before acquiring the services of coveted Italian centre-back Riccardo Calafiori for a reported £42 million.

Calafiori — who can also play as a left-back — was first among Bologna players last season for interceptions (50), aerial duels won (60), headed clearances (47), and possessions won in the defensive (107) and middle thirds (81). He also provided a team-high five assists at the other end and scored twice.

However, they’ve cleared plenty of money off their wage budget, and you feel there’s much more to come. Here, we take a look at the strong rumours and bookmakers’ favourites for who Arsenal might sign this summer, building some possible starting XIs we could see from Arteta next season.

Ivan Toney

Arsenal are one of a number of Premier League heavyweights linked with Ivan Toney this summer and it’s even thought that, after failing to generate as much interest as they initially expected, Brentford are now willing to slash their asking price.

Toney started well after returning from his eight-month ban last season, scoring four goals in his first five appearances back. However, he dropped off dramatically thereafter, failing to score in any of his next 12 outings, notching just two assists.

Of course, we know Toney is capable of much better, as evidenced by his 20-goal return in 2022/23 and the service he’d get from the likes of Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard would surely offer up plenty more chances.

Kai Havertz filled in well at No.9 last season but isn’t a natural option, while Gabriel Jesus has plenty of world-class traits but has proven himself inconsistent as a goalscorer. So signing someone of Toney’s calibre could make a lot of sense for Arteta. Could England teammate Declan Rice help influence the striker?

“With Ivan, I think we have just clicked. Ever since he got into the squad, we just got on. I think even from his time at Brentford, you know, we used to speak all the time after games and stuff,” Rice said of Toney during Euro 2024.

“We have always got on and we are really close now, which is really nice. We spend a lot of time together and just even seeing him the other night when he got his first minutes, made the impact, got the assist, obviously took his pen like he did, it was just incredible.

“He has been unbelievable in this tournament for the whole squad, so, yeah, he is a really, really good friend of mine now.”

Viktor Gyokeres

Another striker making the Arsenal rumours pages this summer has been Viktor Gyokeres, which is unsurprising given he’s notched a quite ridiculous 43 goals and 15 assists since joining Sporting CP from Coventry City. Right now, Arsenal are priced as 2/1 favourites to sign the Swedish striker by Sky Bet, with that price possibly influenced by reports from Italy suggesting Napoli cannot afford his £86m price tag.

That’s a lot more money than Arsenal would pay for Toney, but Gyokeres is a couple of years younger and proved himself in Europe last season with five goals and two assists in nine Europa League outings.

With Eddie Nketiah looking set to join Marseille this summer and the aforementioned issues with Havertz and Jesus, the Gunners will need to do something up-front in this window.

Pedro Neto

Pedro Neto has long been linked with a Wolves exit and those reports only increased in volume after he finished top of the club’s 2023/24 Premier League assists chart (9) and second for chances created (38), despite being limited to just 20 appearances through injury.

Of course, fitness would be a concern for Arteta, as would a supposed £60m price tag. But Neto would certainly bring craft and quality to the Gunners’ forward line, while he’s already proven himself well capable in the Premier League — he’d be a great option to rotate with Saka, Gabriel Martinelli and Leandro Trossard.

Sky Bet currently make Arsenal 3/1 co-favourites — alongside rivals Tottenham — to land Neto, who is a boyhood Gunners fan.

“When I was a kid growing up watching English football, my favourite team was Arsenal,” the forward said in 2021. “Because with Arsene Wenger, I thought besides winning trophies they played very good football.”

It must also be noted that Arsenal have also been linked with Spain’s star of Euro 2024, Nico Williams, but with Barcelona sniffing around, a move could prove difficult.

Mikel Merino

Mikel Merino’s last spell in the Premier League Newcastle United didn’t pan out exactly as he’d have liked. However, six years have passed since then, during which time he’s thrived as a key player for Real Sociedad — winning the 2020 Copa del Rey — and helped Spain go all the way at Euro 2024.

Merino was brilliantly dynamic during the 2023/24 La Liga season, coming out first among Sociedad players for tackles (77), aerial duels won (168) and possessions won in both the middle (112) and attacking thirds (21). On the ball, meanwhile, he completed the most final third passes (354) and notched five goals and three assists.

Arsenal aren’t necessarily short of midfield options, with Rice and Odegaard among the best in the league. However, Jorginho and Thomas Partey are 32 and 31 years old, respectively, while it looks like Emile Smith Rowe is on his way out this summer. With that in mind, there is an open space for someone to come in alongside Rice and also provide high-quality depth.

According to The Mirror, Real Sociedad will settle for £25m as Merino enters the final year of his contract, with the Gunners facing competition from Barcelona and Atletico Madrid.

Three ways Arsenal could line up in 2024/25

The dream

We know Arteta is most likely to stick with 4-3-3 and in this scenario, he’s not only got the Calafiori deal over the line, but also managed to persuade both Williams and Gyokeres to sign, seriously levelling up his attacking options. Merino also comes in for that aforementioned £25m, perfectly complimenting Rice and Odegaard.

If it isn’t broken, don’t fix it

As mentioned, Arsenal were very unlucky not to win the title last season and if anything, have just lacked a little depth over the last couple of years. There’s every chance Arteta will stick with the players who have run him so close over the past couple of seasons, with his signings adding that extra quality to cover for injuries, suspensions, fatigue and cup runs.

The rogue

This one is perhaps more realistic with the likes of Neto and Toney over Williams and Gyokeres. However, there’s also an element of ‘getting as many good players on the pitch as possible’ with Calafiori taking up the left-back role and Timber (or Gabriel) coming in at centre-back. Maybe this is something Arteta could experiment with in the cups — perhaps even a three-man centre-back line-up could be on the cards at times.