Andrea Berta’s first transfer window of employment at Arsenal was eventful.
The Gunners have not been shy about completing big deals in recent years – take Declan Rice, for example – but even that sweet summer of 2025 was a statement.
It was clear that Mikel Arteta’s men needed more depth to challenge for the title, so they went and signed a number of players, most notably Eberechi Eze, Victor Gyokeres and Martin Zubimendi.
That said, after a year, no one on this roster has established themselves as a regular starter, and many are already in danger of being moved.
Why are some of Arsenal’s title winners facing the axe?
“Arsenal” was a worthy winner of the Premier League in the 2025/26 season. Despite late pressure from Manchester City, they were the best team in the country.
According to this evidence, Bertha worked as a recruitment drive more than a year ago.
Gyokeres finished the campaign as the club’s top scorer with 21 goals in all competitions. Only Rice and David Raya have played more minutes than Zubimendi.
Eze even scored a hat-trick against Tottenham. The investment was well worth it as they won the title at Selhurst Park.
However, Arteta is a ruthless manager and we have seen plenty of that in recent months. Zubimendi has already been sidelined in favor of Myles Lewis-Skelly and Bruno Guimaraes.
Christos Tzolis has been preferred to Eze on the left of Arsenal’s attack and Kai Havertz is the leader at the top of the pitch. Gyokeres played only 29 minutes in the Premier League this season.
League minutes played on 26/27 with 2025 signatures | |
|---|---|
Player | Minutes played |
Cristian Mosquera | 169′ |
Martin Zubimendi | 89′ |
May God protect you | 85′ |
Piero Hincapie | 32′ |
Victor Gokeres | 29′ |
You Maduek | 23′ |
Kepa Arrizabalaga | 0 |
So those big money signings of 2025 are under pressure. Zubimendi has attracted interest from Chelsea, with reports in the summer suggesting the Gunners were happy to complete a swap deal for Atletico Madrid with Gyokeres and Julian Alvarez.
It seems to the Swede that his Arsenal career will not last beyond this season. The same can be said for the club’s contemporary Dennis Bergkamp.
Why is it time for Bergkamp 2.0 to leave the Emirates behind?
It’s safe to say that Berta has fallen out of favor since becoming Arsenal’s Sporting Director.
This summer he beat Arteta. They needed an elite forward and didn’t hold any hands. He hasn’t necessarily failed the manager in 2025, but it’s damning that every one of those signings isn’t in the starting XI now. Christian Norgaard even went in search of regular first-team football.
There are a few question marks about last summer. Why did they sign Gyokeres and not Benjamin Sesko? Why did they sign Madueke when Ethan Nwaneri was there?
The bigger question is why did they sign Eze when Nwaneri and Dowman were in the pipeline?
When he came from the Crystal Palace, it was treated like a fairy tale. Arsenal had snubbed Tottenham’s 11th-hour move for the creative midfielder, and in doing so they signed Gooner, a boyhood star who had run out of Hale End’s academy.
On paper, it was a marvelous capture. Ian Wright was also in dreamland. Speaking about the deal at that time, he said: “We [Arsenal] you need a player who is a bit more of a maverick, who can pick up players and beat players and score goals. He’s a game changer.”
Wright added: “With the players around him, he could be a defining signing like when Bergkamp arrived.”
There may have been some defining matches – he scored five goals against Spurs throughout the season – but it was not a defining signing.
The truth is that Eze’s story is unlikely to have a happy ending. Honestly, Arteta should try to move him next year.
A hat-trick against Spurs was euphoric; it was historic and one of the moments of the last age. However, this is as good as it gets for English on the N5.
This season, he looked like a player with no confidence and with his wings clipped. He looks far from the player who scored 14 goals and provided 12 assists in his last season with Palace.
During this period, he did not score any goals and provided only one assist in his seven trips. Both of his starts – against Napoli and Ipswich – have been uninspiring.
Sure, he provided Dowman’s key at Portman Road, but it was a simple layoff and, apart from that, he was completely outclassed by his younger peer. Eze struggled further during Arsenal’s trip to Naples. He was sent off after 66 minutes as he hit just two of Arsenal’s 26 shots on the night.
He won only two of seven duels and did not complete a dribble. Against a low block, a maverick like Eze was required to pick the lock, but it was a fairly quiet showing.
With Martin Odegaard in the form of his life, Dowman broke and Arsenal keen to sign a world-class left-back in future transfer windows, don’t be surprised if Eze’s return to Arsenal is only a few years away.