Arsenal's Winger Dilemma: Need for a Superstar Signing
Arsenal have spent the last year trying to crack their No.9 puzzle. They paid big money for Viktor Gyokeres 12 months ago, handed him the responsibility of leading the line and watched him return 21 goals in his first season. On paper, that should have settled the argument.
It hasn’t.
Gyokeres is not even a guaranteed starter. Kai Havertz, the converted midfielder who has never been a nailed-on 20-goal striker, has reclaimed the role through the middle at the start of the 2026-27 campaign. The message between the lines is clear: Mikel Arteta still doesn’t fully trust his specialist centre-forward.
And that’s only half the story in attack.
Clutch men gone, questions left behind
Leandro Trossard, the man who so often popped up with decisive moments in last season’s title triumph, is gone. He has swapped north London for Besiktas. Gabriel Martinelli, a fixture at Arsenal for seven years and a constant source of chaos on the left, has departed for Al-Hilal in the Saudi Pro League.
Those are not fringe exits. They are the kind that change the feel of a frontline.
Jermaine Pennant believes Arsenal are already paying the price.
Speaking to GOAL in association with NetBet Casino, the former winger did not sugar-coat his verdict when asked whether the Gunners need to move for a “superstar” left winger.
“They have to at some point because teams are not going to sit dormant,” he said. “Teams around them are not going to not strengthen in those areas. Come January, I'm sure the likes of Chelsea, Man United, Liverpool and Man City are going to go in the market again and strengthen again. So they have to.
“And this is weird saying, but I think they've actually got weaker. I think Arsenal are weaker, especially going forward anyway, than they were last season. Because they've lost some really clutch individuals.”
He pointed straight at Trossard’s contribution.
“I think without Trossard they probably wouldn't have won the league. The West Ham goal, you could go on with the important goals he scored - Aston Villa. Then they've lost Martinelli, yeah, his number's dwindled but again it's still a good impact player you can bring off the bench. They've lost him.”
Those “clutch individuals” are hard to replace. Arsenal, so far, haven’t.
The left flank dilemma
Christos Tzolis has been dropped into that vacancy on the left. He is the man currently carrying a zone of the pitch that used to be shared by Trossard and Martinelli. Talented, yes. Proven at the very top level over a full season? Not yet.
“And they've not really replaced that apart from Tzolis,” Pennant warned. “So if he gets injured or whatnot, their left side's kind of doomed. You’ve got to put [Eberechi] Eze out there, he's not a winger, he's a midfielder.”
That is the crux of the concern. Arsenal have options, but not specialists. Eze can drift wide, but his instincts belong in central pockets. Bukayo Saka dominates the right. The left, once a strength, now feels like the soft underbelly of a title-chasing squad.
There were attempts to change that.
Arsenal tested the water around Vinicius Junior when his contract talks at Real Madrid dragged on, sensing a once-in-a-generation opportunity. The Brazilian chose to remain a ‘Galactico’ at the Santiago Bernabeu.
Then came Bradley Barcola. A Champions League winner, placed on the market as Paris Saint-Germain opened the exit door. Arsenal asked the question. The answer was brutal: £123 million. Arteta and the recruitment team walked away. Liverpool did not, and stepped in.
For a club that has loosened the purse strings in recent windows, it was a rare moment of restraint. It also left that left flank unresolved.
Strength at the back, doubts up top
Pennant accepts that Arsenal have improved in one key department.
“Yes, they’ve strengthened at the back,” he said. Defensively, Arteta’s side look organised, mean and mature. The early numbers back that up: three wins from three in the Premier League, plus a controlled Champions League victory over Napoli. No slips, no drama.
Going forward, though, he sees erosion rather than evolution.
“So I think going forward they definitely need to strengthen. Because they've probably fallen out of favour with Gyokeres and they've reverted back to [Kai] Havertz, who was never really their 15, 20-goal-a-season guy.”
Havertz has started the season as the spearhead. Gyokeres has been reduced to an impact role off the bench, an expensive Plan B. Behind them, Martin Odegaard has rediscovered his spark in the No.10 role, threading passes and dictating tempo. Saka already has two goals and looks as relentless as ever.
Those core pieces give Arteta enough ammunition to argue that nothing is broken. Results certainly support him. Four games, four wins across league and Europe. No obvious crisis to see.
Yet the sense lingers that something is missing. That on the left, where trophies are often decided by moments and match-winners, Arsenal are rolling the dice on fitness, form and flexibility rather than proven star power.
Arteta will insist he has the tools to go again. The table and the fixture list will test that conviction soon enough. When January comes and the market opens, will Arsenal still gamble on what they have, or finally pay for the “superstar” winger their rivals are being warned about?
