Premier League team introductions: Young Arsenal will want to return to Europe

Arsenal has been a great football brand for decades, but in recent seasons it has experienced more setbacks than moments of joy. Now, for the first time in a long time, it is facing a season without participation in European cups.

Arsenal have had another below average season. Although it has had its brighter periods under Mikel Arteta, they have been minimal and clearly outweighed by the weaker passages.

This was reflected in the overall standings, with the Gunners finishing as low as eighth place and therefore will not play in the Conference Europa League. They will also lose all the financial bonuses associated with this competition.

Still, the management brought in some interesting names, one in particular wasn’t the cheapest. Ben White reinforced the London team for 58 million euros, which is a really high sum for Arsenal.

On the other hand, White, as a Brighton player, got into the English national team and went with them to the Euros. A season back he helped Leeds to promotion to the Premier League and he didn’t lose his way in the aforementioned Brighton. Together with Gabriel Magalhaes, he can be one of the best.

Arteta’s roster has also been expanded by central midfielder Albert Lokonga (€18 million ) and left back Nuno Tavares (€8 million), who are mainly counted on in the coming years. Lokonga is expected to slowly replace Granit Xhaka, while Tavares will back up Kieran Tierney.

When we look at the Red and White roster as a whole, we see that this is a very young team, lacking players of the ideal age. All of this is beautifully summed up by the fact that the team is led by teenager Bukayo Saka, author of five goals and four assists.

Alongside him, offensive all-rounder Gabriel Martinelli, left back Kieran Tierney and offensive midfielder Emile Smith-Rowe are also worth the fans’ attention.

Although Arsenal has long been ridiculed for its work in defence, last year its defensive line didn’t work that badly. More specifically, after Manchester City and Chelsea, Bernd Leno and co. got the fewest goals in the league (39).

But up front, things often creaked. Team captain Pierre Emerick Aubameyang seemed to have lost the desire to fight for the team by signing a new contract, not to mention the performances of Willian or Eddie Nketiah.

We have analysed the arrivals of new reinforcements, but it is important to mention the departures. After half a year, Martin Odegaard said goodbye to his teammates and returned to Real Madrid together with Dani Ceballos. David Luiz and Matthew Ryan also left the club.

In summary, Arsenal certainly have an interesting but currently inexperienced team for the future. The fact that they are concentrating on one competition may play in their favour, but the question is how Arteta and his assistants will deal with this fact.

Prediction: 6th place