Julian Alvarez will not be joining Arsenal this summer. Instead, he stays with Atletico Madrid after a failed attempt to switch to Barcelona, leaving the Gunners without the Argentine striker they had targeted.
Mikel Arteta therefore missed out on the high‑profile forward he had identified as a priority. The transfer saga surrounding Alvarez dragged on throughout the summer, culminating in his decision to remain in Spain. Arsenal had been waiting in the wings, hoping to lure him back to the Premier League, but the player never showed the requisite desire to make the move. In the aftermath of the Champions League final loss to Paris Saint‑Germain, Arteta publicly urged his club to be both "ambitious" and "swift" in the market.
Whether Arsenal has lived up to those standards is now a matter of debate. Arsenal entered the window with Morgan Rogers as their primary target. The club was prepared to meet Chelsea's £117 million price tag, but ultimately deemed it excessive and walked away. Their next big hope was Vinícius Júnior, a dynamic winger from Real Madrid, but the Brazilian remained at the Spanish giants.
The Alvarez episode then dominated the headlines right up to deadline day, yet the Argentine never expressed a genuine wish to join the North London side. The only forward who actually arrived was Greek striker Christos Tzolis, who will be expected to fill a significant portion of the attacking workload. While the forward line saw little reinforcement, Arsenal also saw several departures. Gabriel Martinelli, Leandro Trossard and Gabriel Jesus all exited the squad, and promising teenager Ethan Nwaneri was loaned to Borussia Dortmund.
In effect, Arsenal lost four attackers and added just one. This raises the question: has the club compromised its offensive depth to the point of jeopardising the upcoming season? The left‑wing position is now a particular concern.
Between now and the January transfer window, Tzolis is the only recognized specialist for that role. Players such as Eberechi Eze and Noni Madueke can provide cover, but they are also expected to rotate with Martin Ødegaard and Bukayo Saka across the front three. Eze demonstrated his ability to operate on the left after coming off the bench against Aston Villa, yet neither he nor Tzolis possess the blistering pace and one‑on‑one creativity that Arteta traditionally favours. They are not the type of players who consistently make runs behind a defence, a hallmark of Martinelli's play.
Can Tzolis shoulder the left‑wing responsibilities for the majority of the campaign? Those familiar with his work ethic note his remarkable recovery rate – he can play three days after a full match and still perform.
Last season at Club Brugge he accumulated just under 4,400 minutes, roughly 900 minutes fewer than the combined total of Martinelli and Trossard for Arsenal in 2025‑26. To match that output, Tzolis would need to feature in about ten additional games this season, a workload that may test his stamina but is not impossible. The centre‑forward area is equally thin.
With Kai Havertz and Viktor Gökçeöräs occupying the central attacking spots and Gabriel Jesus now gone, Arsenal have one fewer striker than they did last season. Earlier in the summer, Artetta admitted he feared the title race had slipped away in November when the Gunners were left with only Mikel Merino as a viable striker.
Merino can fill in, but he is primarily a midfield option, not a natural number nine. Despite the lack of a new out-and-out striker, Arsenal have bolstered the attacking midfield with the £75 million acquisition of Bruno Guimarães. The Brazilian midfielder was among the Premier League's elite at breaking down opposition lines last term and made an immediate impact on his debut against Aston Villa. His presence adds a different dimension to the Gunners' forward play, allowing Arteta to experiment with more fluid, interchangeable front‑three formations.
Another intriguing development is the rise of 16‑year‑old Max Dowman. Previously considered a wildcard, Dowman is now being earmarked for a larger role, potentially covering the right wing and the number‑10 slot while Madueke and Eze are deployed elsewhere. His versatility could prove invaluable in a squad that now relies on a smaller pool of forwards. Depth remains a hallmark of Arsenal's squad.
The club can field at least two players in every position, with some areas boasting three options. Over the summer, Arsenal overhauled their medical department, a move that could improve the availability of key talents like Saka and Ødegaard. Better injury management may, in turn, mitigate the impact of a thinner attacking roster. Defensively, Arsenal addressed a pressing need caused by William Saliba's long‑term injury by signing centre‑back Ezri Konsa.
With Jurrien Timber and Ben White also prone to injury spells – White even struggled against Villa recently – having Konsa, alongside Cristhian Mosquera and Piero Hincapié, provides a robust backup that many Premier League sides would consider a first‑choice backline. Meanwhile, rivals are strengthening in ways that could narrow the gap to Arsenal. Manchester City have added midfield dynamo Elliot Anderson, creative prospect Ayyoub Bouaddi and seasoned Argentine Enzo Fernández, while Chelsea not only poached Rogers but also reinforced their goalkeeper, defence and experience departments. Both City and Chelsea can now claim they possess the firepower to challenge Arsenal for the title, leaving the Gunners with a slightly disappointing transfer window from an attacking perspective.
The true test will come when the season kicks off, and the question of whether Arsenal's reduced forward options will hinder their ambitions will be examined closely. Fans will soon see how these changes play out when Arsenal face Chelsea on Sunday at 4.30 pm on Sky Sports. The match will serve as an early barometer for the Gunners' attacking depth and their ability to compete with clubs that have bolstered their squads more aggressively.