After what was to all intents and purposes a four-year challenge to get themselves back to where they belong, Arsenal enter the 2026-27 season with that sweetest of labels affixed to them: champions. Ending the 22-year wait for Premier League glory was enough of a struggle but now Mikel Arteta faces a mission that was beyond Arsene Wenger, George Graham and every other manager since the 1930s. Not since George Allison took on the mantle from Herbert Chapman have Arsenal repeated as champions of England.
With so much to settle across the chasing pack, Arsenal have a prime opportunity to turn a title into an era. So often in recent years, their greatest saboteur was within them. If the 3-0 win over Manchester City in the Community Shield is anything to go off -- and it might not be -- then this team see no reason to doubt anymore. The champions look intent to stamp their superiority on the rest of England.
Why you should root for them
Well, first of all, know that if you do, we're talking a grade A certified case of glory supporting. Hate to say it, but it's important you know it. Feel like you can live with yourself? Ok fine. As for what you're getting, hitching your wagon to the champions, it's a club deeply rooted in its particular part of London, one that somehow contrives to bring together communities from across the capital. The scenes that engulfed the Emirates Stadium on the night the title was won in May speak to how many lives Arsenal touch, from newborns being hoisted into the sky like trophies to youngsters from every borough and beyond, waiting it out until dawn in the hope they might get to see their heroes.
On and off the pitch, you get a style and swagger from Arsenal, one that came to the forefront under Wenger and was typified in the effortless charm of Thierry Henry. Under Arteta that elegant but occasionally self-defeating approach was blended with the steel of Graham's days while keeping the through line from both those great managers: a commitment to giving homegrown youngsters their shot. Both Bukayo Saka and Myles Lewis-Skelly were crucial in moments of the title race, Max Dowman too.
And if all that is not enough, the merch is also quite good.
Is this team good?
Well, they won the toughest domestic league in the sport and came within a few penalty kicks of being crowned European champions. I think it's safe to say they are pretty decent. The Premier League has never been deeper for talent, hence why its fourth and 15th-best teams won European trophies, and it took a heavy toll on Arsenal. If anything, that is what made them such impressive champions.
Only four outfield players featured in more than 32 of their 38 league games last season. Star forward Bukayo Saka was not in the XI for more than a third of games, captain and creative hub Martin Odegaard made just 16 starts and their best striker Kai Havertz was down at seven. The first time that their five best attackers -- the aforementioned trio plus Eberechi Eze and the now-departed Leandro Trossard -- were able to share the pitch was the night before they won the title. A few weeks later in the Champions League final, Arsenal nearly locked out Paris Saint-Germain, the best attack on the planet, without their first-choice left back and their first and second-choice right back.
Imagine what they could achieve at full strength. It'll be a while yet before peak Arsenal is anything but an idea, William Saliba on the sidelines for the long term with a back issue, but when a depleted version of them achieves what they did last season, it's worth pondering.
What has changed?
Given all that Arsenal did in the teeth of an injury crisis, it is perhaps no surprise that their approach to this summer has been one of steady evolution. So far two signings have been made and only one of them has the look of the marquee addition that social media demands, whatever the context. Bruno Guimaraes takes a midfield that looked pretty strong when it was Declan Rice, Martin Zubimendi and Myles Lewis-Skelly and elevates it to another level. At 28, the Brazilian is an addition for the here and now, one of the best pure progressors of the ball from deep areas, a tidy creator around the penalty box and a scoring threat. He opens up a wealth of possibilities for constructing midfields, whether he is sitting deeper or attacking the final third. It is not even as if Arsenal's midfield was that much of a problem last season. A high talent spot has become even better.
Aside from third-choice goalkeeper Illan Meslier, the only other signing so far this summer has been Christos Tzolis, tasked with delivering some of the clutch goals and assists that saw Trossard help Arsenal across the finish line. The early signs from preseason are spectacular indeed. The Greek international has scored or assisted in each non-competitive game he has played for his new squad and got two assists in the Community Shield win, after which Arteta hailed the "really organic" fit he had with the team. Working hard off the ball, with vision for a pass, Tzolis probably won't match his numbers from last season, 22 goals and 29 assists for Club Brugge in all competitions. Then again, a third of that wouldn't be too shabby for a player who profiles as a depth piece.
What Tzolis is not is the transformative attacker that Arsenal supporters hoped they were getting. Vinicius Junior ultimately opted to extend at Real Madrid after the Gunners' big push for the Ballon d'Or contender. He was the ideal player to address the weak link on the left side of their attack; will another of such repute emerge? Julian Alvarez and Kenan Yildiz have their admirers internally. Neither Atletico Madrid nor Juventus want to sell.
Given Saliba's injury, Arsenal are also intent on adding a right-sided defender, ideally Aston Villa's Ezri Konsa, but financial headroom is closing, even for a club who are expected to generate record revenues. The Gunners are not yet too close to breaching UEFA's squad cost rules but if all they do is add a defender and marquee attacker between now and the end of the window, they may rob themselves of room to manoeuvre.
The pressure is on sporting director Andrea Berta to trim back the fringes of a sizeable squad where the likes of Gabriel Jesus and Gabriel Martinelli carry considerable cost (an estimated half a million dollars in weekly wages) and home-grown Ethan Nwaneri offers plenty of balance sheet profit. Arsenal are not the only club to discover that there are few takers for the well-remunerated players they do not want -- and they have brought in funds through the sales of Trossard, Jakub Kiwior, Christian Norgaard and Karl Hein -- but Berta was hired last year in part because of his player trading experience at Atletico Madrid.
Expectations for 2026-27
Ultimately, in Premier League terms it may not matter whether Arsenal do get that superstar forward they covet. The rest of the division's big six are going into their first full season with their current manager. Few have addressed every issue they have in the transfer window and even fewer have displayed much in the way of consistency over recent years. Only the absence of Saliba could reasonably be expected to knock this team off course.
Really, that spot might have been Vinicius', one that could be decisive for Arsenal in the Champions League, where that extra moment of final third magic really might have got them over the line against Paris Saint-Germain and might ensure they shade the fine-margined ties that are yet to come. Domestically, this league is Arsenal's to lose.
