Arsenal have made two huge errors that can still be rectified with double transfer

Arsenal’s Premier League title bid is already on shaky ground this season.

Mikel Arteta‘s side may have only lost two league fixtures so far in 2024/25, but the Gunners find themselves nine points off leaders Liverpool after 11 games. The international break has come at the perfect time for Arsenal, who will be looking to regroup and go again when they return to action against Nottingham Forest on November 23.

Arsenal will be kicking themselves amid Manchester City‘s own faltering season. Pep Guardiola’s team have long been a thorn in their side, having finished as runners-up to City in each of the previous two seasons.

Now Slot‘s Liverpool look to be the most likely team to end City’s dominant run of four straight league titles. So what’s gone wrong for the Gunners?

This is where Arsenal’s transfer business comes under scrutiny for perhaps the first team since their emergence as title contenders under Arteta. Few can argue that Mikel Merino and Riccardo Calafiori aren’t players who have strengthened the Gunners squad, but have they improved their starting 11? Arguably not.

Signing a new striker was a running theme when analysing which positions need strengthening in Arteta’s team and for good reason. Bukayo Saka, a winger, was Arsenal’s top goalscorer for the 2023/24 season, scoring 16 goals in the Premier League. Imagine what would have happened with a striker who scored 20 goals.

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Perhaps Arsenal were waiting for the perfect candidate to emerge such as Newcastle’s Alexander Isak. Maybe the form of Viktor Gyokeres at Sporting will convince them to make a move for him next summer.

But it feels like the Gunners have missed a massive opportunity. Yes, Liverpool’s form has been incredible, but they are not serial champions like City, who look to be experiencing a dip similar to the 2019/20 season when they finished 18 points behind Jurgen Klopp’s champions on Merseyside.

Another transfer error looks to have been their failure to sign a backup to Martin Odegaard. Losing their influential captain for several months appears to have had as big an effect on them as not having a regular goalscoring number nine.

Yes, signing a like-for-like replacement is almost impossible, considering Profit and Sustainability (PSR) concerns for all Premier League clubs and the fact a player of a similar level would want to play even when Odegaard is fit. But having no one similar to offer the creativity and leadership in his position looks to have been a mistake.

Perhaps, looking back in May, most people will conclude that Liverpool were far too good or that City would go on another incredible streak after Christmas. But regardless of other teams, it looks like Arsenal will have plenty of regrets after a season that promised so much.

Of course, there is still the January transfer window. Whether Arsenal act remains to be seen.