Mikel Arteta faces defining six months at Arsenal after £650m spend for just one trophy

Mikel Arteta is facing the most important six months of his reign as Arsenal manager. Arsenal are still in the Premier League title race and are also among the favourites to win the Champions League this season. But the reality is, after they blew another chance of silverware after losing the Carabao Cup semi final to Newcastle, people are beginning to question whether they have the mentality to win trophies.

Arteta has won just one FA Cup in his five-year reign since taking over as Arsenal manager in December 2019 despite spending £650m. No-one can doubt the job that Arteta has done. The Spaniard has transformed the club from top to bottom, turning them from being also-rans into genuine contenders. Arteta got rid of all the ageing, overpaid deadwood and replaced them with a young, hungry squad and brought in the likes of Martin Odegaard and Declan Rice while championing young talent such as Bukayo Saka.

But Arteta also raised expectations and his reign will ultimately be judged on what happens next because he should be delivering trophies and this summer’s transfer window will be crucial with achieving that target. Equally, it should not always be jam tomorrow. Arsenal is a big club with even bigger ambitions and you do not get any trophies for making progress. You are judged on results. And Arsenal are pinning a lot of hope on this summer’s transfer window because, being blunt, they have messed up the last two.

Last summer should have been the window when they signed a top class striker and, by not doing so, they put even more pressure on January and drew a blank again. Furthermore, it should not be painted as Arteta not getting enough backing. That is just ridiculous. The overall spend is huge but they also spent nearly £75m last summer. And what did they get? Another left back, a journeyman midfielder and a former England winger on loan. Tellingly, none of Riccardo Calafiori, Mikel Merino and Raheem Sterling start in Arsenal’s biggest games.

That’s a pretty damning indictment of Arsenal’s transfer business. They will not spend £150m on Newcastle striker Alexander Isak. But Isak was on Arsenal’s shortlist in 2022 when he was at Real Sociedad. Arsenal signed Gabriel Jesus and Newcastle got Isak. They went for RB Leipzig striker Benjamin Sesko last summer who wanted to wait another year. Sesko will be their No1 target this summer. And the justification for not doing anything in the winter market was because they did not want to disrupt their transfer plans in six months’ time. You cannot wait forever.

They have lined up a move for Real Sociedad’s Martin Zubimendi (yet another defensive midfielder) and also want a top class left winger to improve their attacking options. They will offload the likes of Kieran Tierney and Oleksandr Zinchenko while Jakub Kiwior could go, too. Thomas Partey and Jorginho are at the end of their contracts. It could be a busy summer of ins and outs. But where have we heard that before?.

This is why Arteta’s reign will be judged on the next six months. They had a great opportunity to win the title in the past two seasons but could not get it over the line. Their harshest critics say they bottled it. They are further behind this time and Liverpool are so clearly better. Arsenal have also become rather predictable this season. Arteta’s buzzword is control. But control reduces spontaneity and excitement on the pitch. It was fun to watch last season and the year before. Not so much this season.

They can still win the title or Champions League. But will they actually do it? There is a reason they are not the bookies’ favourites to win either. Join our new WhatsApp community and receive your daily dose of Mirror Football content. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.