Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta is impressed with the club’s summer signings, acknowledging that the squad might have lacked depth without the investments.
The Gunners heavily invested on the squad this summer, spending over £250 million on eight summer additions.
They signed Kepa Arrizabalaga, Martin Zubimendi, Christian Norgaard, Noni Madueke, Victor Gyokeres, Cristhian Mosquera and Eberechi Eze, while Piero Hincapie also joined the club on an initial loan deal with an obligation to buy next summer.
The North London side have finished second in three consecutive EPL seasons, while they reached the semifinals of the UEFA Champions League last season.
The squad has been affected by injuries this season , but unlike in previous campaigns, they now possess the depth to remain stronger across the pitch.
“We have a lot of players injured at the moment, we have Gabriel Jesus, we have Kai [Havertz], we have Ben White, we have Martin Odegaard, we have Bukayo Saka, we have a lot there,” the Arsenal manager said.
“So, thank God that we have done the recruitment in the summer, because if not we would have been in a really difficult position.”
Arsenal have won three of their first four league matches this season, with all summer signings showing early signs of promise.
The Gunners travel to Spain to face Athletic Bilbao in their 2025/26 UCL opener, hoping to go one better than last season’s last four exit.
“I am really happy with the squad that we have, the balance, the type of personalities that we have, the capacity that we have to change and be versatile and play in different ways, I am very happy with that”, Arteta continued.
“The requirements the players have right now and the standards that we need right now, require different things and in this moment if you don’t have players that can really do different things, it is not going to be enough and thank God now that we have some very good options.”
Arsenal are hoping to become the first side in UCL history to defeat Spanish opponents on six straight occasions when they face Bilbao at San Mames on Tuesday evening.
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