How Arteta’s Summer Signings Have Performed So Far At Arsenal

Arsenal boss, Mikel Arteta spent the sum of £149million before the start of the 2021-22 campaign in an attempt to secure Champions League football for the first time since 2016.

Some signings were met with heavy backlash from the Gunners fanbase, with deals for Ben White and Aaron Ramsdale particularly being questioned by the fans.

With the dust settling from the summer transfer window, we check the progress of these signings

Nuno Tavares

Tavares was first through the door this summer, signing from Benfica for a £7.2million fee, and impressed Arteta with his performance in a pre-season friendly at Rangers.

Things have only got better since. Injuries to Kieran Tierney have given the 21-year-old a run in the first team and Tavares has taken the Emirates by storm with his committed displays.

“One of the biggest qualities he has is that he is not fazed at all when he is playing,” Arteta said of the Portugal Under-21 international. “That’s something that we really liked about Nuno when we were looking at him.

“Credit must go to Edu and the scouting department when they were doing the process, because that is something that we discussed a lot: we want a certain character to play for Arsenal.

“We want them to be able to deal with pressure, to be able to perform straight away when you are needed and to go from not playing to playing straight away.

“And that is what Nuno did, so, credit to the boy.”

It’ll be interesting to see how Tavares fares against Mohamed Salah when Arsenal face Liverpool in their next fixture.

Albert Sambi Lokonga

Brought in from Anderlecht, Lokonga was the latest attempt by Arsenal to replace Patrick Vieira – something they’ve failed to achieve since their former captain’s departure in 2005.

And the midfielder has made a solid start to life in England, making 10 Premier League appearances as Arsenal have steadied the ship from their disastrous August.

“Sambi has shown a really quick adaptation, a lot of intelligence since he came and courage,” Arteta told Football.London in November 2021.

“He’s a player constantly trying to affect the game in the right way. It was a big task to ask him to play the number of minutes that he’s done in the league already in such a short space of time.

“But he’s showing he’s capable of doing and he’s handling the situation really impressively.”

Ben White

Many pairs of eyebrows were raised heavenwards when Arsenal forked out £50million for White during the close season.

The centre-back had impressed at both Leeds and Brighton, and was a late inclusion in England’s Euro 2020 squad, but a wretched debut at Brentford didn’t exactly promise great things.

But White has more than found his feet since and he’s helped Arsenal keep five Premier League clean sheets since the start of September.

He’s cool as a cucumber in possession too…

Martin Odegaard

Despite a productive loan spell last season, it looked unlikely that Odegaard would return to the Emirates this season.

But Arsenal and Real Madrid were able to thrash out a £30million deal that saw the Norway international make the permanent switch to north London in late August.

Odegaard quickly proved his worth by scoring a delightful free-kick during the 1-0 win at Burnley but has largely been used as a substitute because of Arsenal’s fine recent form.

He has been hindered by injuries, while it has also felt like he’s been the biggest victim of Arsenal playing a 4-4-2 formation.

Time will tell, and his talent endures, but Odegaard has arguably been Arsenal’s most underwhelming summer signing to date.

Aaron Ramsdale

Ramsdale, more than anybody else, personifies Arsenal’s new edge and is playing like a man who’s determined to be England’s first-choice goalkeeper at Qatar 2022.

And nobody’s laughing at the decision to pay Sheffield United £30million for a ‘back-up goalkeeper’ anymore.

Takehiro Tomiyasu

Arsenal have needed a new right-back for years and, with Hector Bellerin clearing off to Spain, Tomiyasu was bought in from Bologna for £16million.

Already popular with the supporters after rejecting a move to Spurs, the Japan international has shone during his induction to Premier League football and already feels like a fixture in a revitalised Arsenal backline.

According to WhoScored, Tomiyasu has been the Gunners’ third-best player this season behind Emile Smith-Rowe and Gabriel with a rating of 6.97.

Arteta has called the defender a “joy to work with” and the added composure Tomiyasu has brought to the club means it’s no coincidence that Arsenal’s form has improved with his arrival.

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