Arsenal fans are once again full of hope. It has been twenty years since the Gunners last lifted the Premier League trophy. That feels like a lifetime. Every season ends with the same story of heartbreak, but this year Mikel Arteta says the team must keep βdigging for gold.β It is a strange picture to imagine, but it perfectly explains the journey.
For the last 3 years Arsenal have finished 2nd in the league. Manchester City snatched the title in 2023 and 2024. Then Liverpool left us behind last season while injuries and too many draws ruined everything. Arsenal collected 14 draws, which was enough to make every fan want to throw their remote at the TV. That was the difference between being champions and being the nearly men again.
Many fans are asking if Arteta is the man to end this drought. Since 2019 he has only managed the 2020 FA Cup. That is not enough for a club of Arsenalβs size and history. But Arteta keeps faith in his project. He points to the Champions League run last season when Arsenal reached the semifinals before losing to Paris Saint Germain. It was not silverware, but it proved the Gunners can fight against Europeβs best.
This summer Arsenal went shopping properly. The club spent more than Β£180 million to bring in new players. Viktor Gyokeres, Martin Zubimendi, Noni Madueke, and Christian Norgaard are the new faces. Gyokeres is the one fans are buzzing about. He scored 97 goals in 102 games at Sporting, numbers that look more like PlayStation stats than real life. If he does half of that at Arsenal we might finally stop watching old Thierry Henry highlights to cheer ourselves up.
Injuries were the main enemy last season. Bukayo Saka, Martin Odegaard, Gabriel Jesus, and Kai Havertz all spent time in the medical room. At one point it felt like our physio was busier than our striker. Arteta believes the new signings will make sure Arsenal can survive the long season without another collapse.
But Arsenal are not the only ones spending money. Manchester United are desperate to forget last yearβs disaster. They finished 15th, their worst position in decades. To recover, they spent more than Β£200 million on Benjamin Sesko, Bryan Mbeumo, and Matheus Cunha. Manager Ruben Amorim insists this is the start of a new era at Old Trafford. United fans have been saying βnew eraβ every 2 years, so we will see.
Sesko is the main man of their new attack. At just 22, he already looks like a complete striker. Amorim says Sesko is obsessed with football and thinks about it all the time. Arsenal fans might feel a little jealous because the club was once linked with him before choosing Gyokeres. Now the Swede and the Slovenian could go head to head on the opening weekend. Letβs just hope ours scores first so we do not have to hear United fans singing about it all season.
The good news for Arsenal is that they have been more consistent than United in recent years. Arteta points out that his team have collected more points than almost every other club over the last 3 seasons. The problem is those points have not been enough to finish 1st.
Featured image via Screengrab