After an underwhelming few years, Arsenal took a big step in the right direction in the 2022/23 season.
Although their silverware drought continued, they jumped up to second in the league and gave Manchester City a real run for their money, quite clearly looking like the second-best side in the country behind the treble-winners.
The Gunners’ job now is to ensure that this was not a one-off and continue to compete at such a level, so they’ve been quite busy in the transfer window.
Three major signings have been in the works, with Kai Havertz’s move from Chelsea already confirmed while the arrivals of Declan Rice and Jurriën Timber are all but official.
Let’s take a look at how each of them will fit into Mikel Arteta’s system.
Kai Havertz
To the outsider, Havertz might be the most eyebrow-raising signing, especially given his price tag.
It is safe to say that the German international’s time in London has been terribly underwhelming as he has failed to make a lasting impact with Chelsea after three seasons at Stamford Bridge.
There are a number of reasons behind that, and Havertz’s time at Bayer Leverkusen shows that there is a very good player in there.
Havertz’s time at Chelsea was marred by instability. First, the COVID-19 pandemic as he arrived, and then the ownership change and the car crash of the 2022/23 season.
Through it all, he was seemingly misprofiled and used as a striker, which definitely is not his best position.
A quick glance at his stats from 2022/23 shows that he did quite well in almost all aspects except the crucial one — goalscoring output.
Contrast that with his stats from his last season in the Bundesliga when he was often used slightly behind a striker or even in midfield:
In a deeper role, Havertz continued to excel in terms of ball progression and defensive work compared to his peers, but he also posed a decent goal threat without the burden of being the team’s primary source of goals.
At Arsenal, he should be expected to take up the left-sided midfield role in what becomes a 3-2-5 shape in possession.
Granit Xhaka played there last season, but he is now off to (as fate would have it) Leverkusen, so it makes perfect sense for Havertz to replace him.
In possession, Havertz should certainly be seen as an upgrade on the Swiss international given his superior attacking prowess, but the question is how Arsenal will defend with both him and Martin Ødegaard in midfield.
Last season, they moved into a 4-4-2 shape with Ødegaard moving up alongside the striker, while Xhaka stayed in midfield alongside the defensive midfielder.
Havertz should be able to do this as he has previously defended in two-player midfield at Leverkusen, but Arteta will also have the option of switching things around and asking Havertz to step up while Ødegaard drops in.
Either way, it is clear that Havertz has the potential to be a very good signing for Arsenal if used correctly.
Declan Rice
Joining the German international in midfield will be Declan Rice, who is set to be a club-record signing as he comes in with a nine-digit fee.
Arsenal were involved in a bit of a bidding war with Manchester City and ultimately outdid the Premier League champions, so that should say a lot about just how badly they wanted to bring Rice to the Emirates Stadium.
It is needless to say that the English international is an exceptional and elite midfielder who has been consistently superb for West Ham United through their impressive league campaigns, European adventures and even disappointing league season last time out.
His defensive output is second to none, as he won possession on more occasions (334) than any other Premier League player last season.
In addition, he is a fantastic ball progressor who excels at both passing and carrying, never shying away from driving forward if the opportunity presents itself.
These qualities make him the perfect fit alongside Oleksandr Zinchenko in Arsenal’s double pivot in possession.
Many statistical models find him similar to Thomas Partey, who played this role for the Gunners last season.
They are reportedly happy to let him leave if they get a reasonable offer, and Rice is expected to take up a regular starting spot in that role.
Jurriën Timber
Arsenal’s chief defensive reinforcement will be Ajax’s Jurriën Timber.
For just about €42 million, the Gunners are getting the Dutchman at a pretty good price. He is versatile enough to be able to play a couple of roles in Arsenal’s system, but more importantly, he is elite on the ball and has some useful defensive qualities.
Timber’s ball progression through passing, carrying and receiving is exceptional. He is very secure with possession and rarely gives it away.
He is technically sound enough to push into midfield in possession and has done so on many occasions for Ajax.
In the absence of Zinchenko, he could play that sort of a role for Arsenal from the right side, though that would need them to make a couple of other tweaks to the back line.
With everyone being fit, Timber could be best off starting as the right-back and effectively operating as a third centre-back in possession, from where he would have a good deal of freedom to get forward.
The one question mark around him is his one-on-one defending which opponents could look to exploit, but he can make up for it with his rapid recovery pace and generally good defending in transitions when not directly confronted by an opponent. Of course, he should also work on this weakness in training, so it should not be a big issue.
Arsenal have made three great additions to their squad in this window and upgraded the quality of their first-choice starting XI, so they should be reasonably expected to challenge on all fronts again in 2023/24.
Stats courtesy Fbref and The Analyst via Opta.
