Mikel Arteta has brought Arsenal back from the doldrums of Champions League mediocrity and Europa League purgatory back to a side that is challenging for the Premier League title every year and has a fighting shot in the Champions League, too.
However, Arsenal fell short domestically for a second straight season, as Manchester City held them off to hoist the Premier League title once again.
That means that even though Arsenal have assembled a strong collection of starters, there are still areas of need and areas of growth for the Gunners in 2024.
Here are three talented players who could be moving out of the Arsenal starting lineup by the time the 2024/25 season begins – or at some point during it.
LB Oleksandr Zinchenko
Oleksandr Zinchenko is one of the better left backs in world football, but because he is an auxiliary midfielder and not the type of left back to bomb forward, he is starting to have limited utility to Arsenal.
Already, Arsenal have a right back who plays a little further back and is more defensive in former Brighton center back Ben White, but even he gets up the pitch to overlap for Bukayo Saka more frequently than Zinchenko does for Gabriel Martinelli.
As brilliant of a technician as Zinchenko is, we did begin to see Mikel Arteta switch him out for Jakub Kiwior in the second half of the season, though Kiwior lacks the overall technical quality and consistency to fully supplant Zinchenko.
Right now, Zinchenko is in a time-split with Kiwior, and if Arsenal decide to sign a more attacking left back with Manchester City themselves linked to names like Theo Hernandez, the ex-City standout could be relegated to a rotational role – or even sold.
LW Gabriel Martinelli
Arsenal left winger Gabriel Martinelli is one of the most talented players in the Premier League, but he is coming off a very poor 2023/24 campaign, especially by the standards he is capable of reaching.
Martinelli was far too inconsistent, which was always an issue for the young winger, but it was brought to the forefront last season because of the stakes of the title race against Manchester City – and the fact that his hot streaks were fewer and further between in 2023/24.
The Brazilian international finished the Premier League season with only six goals and four assists. Truthfully, his grip on the left wing position was already tenuous, injuries or not, because Belgian international Leandro Trossard thoroughly outplayed him.
A more consistent and well-rounded player, Trossard has become influential to Arsenal since joining from Brighton, and he ended up playing only 400 fewer minutes than Martinelli with twice the goals.
That’s not to say Trossard is better than Martinelli and he does play more positions than just left winger, but this comparison serves to show that Martinelli can’t go into 2024/25 thinking that anything is guaranteed, especially with Arsenal needing to get as ruthless as possible if they want to finally vanquish Manchester City.
A new signing taking Martinelli out of the lineup cannot be ruled out either, because Arsenal could stick with Kai Havertz up top and try to find a top left winger, such as Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, as their solution instead of, say, spending 130 million euros on Kvara’s Napoli teammate Victor Osimhen.
DM Thomas Partey/Jorginho
Thomas Partey wasn’t a full-time starter for Arsenal last season anyway, mostly due to injury, and neither was the 32-year-old Jorginho, who will be coming back for another season.
Meanwhile, Partey’s future at Arsenal is much murkier, and there is a school of thought stating that the Gunners would be better off replacing the limited defensive midfielder with someone who has a more expansive game.
Combined, Partey and Jorginho were the starting midfielders next to marquee summer 2023 signing Declan Rice, as the pair had a total of 38 appearances between them.
Arsenal want to have even more control of the midfield in order to keep up with Manchester City, and they watched as another title rival, Liverpool, made significant midfield upgrades last summer to their great benefit.
As much as the striker position is the priority for Arsenal this summer, one more top midfielder to work with Rice and Martin Odegaard could go a long way in securing the Premier League title and may prove to be even more beneficial in the Champions League with midfield-loaded Real Madrid standing as the top competition in Europe.
The managing editor of The Trivela Effect, Kevin has 15 years of experience in digital media. He has been an editor for NFL Spin Zone, Daily DDT for pro wrestling, Autzen Zoo covering the Oregon Ducks, Musket Fire covering the New England Patriots, The Real Champs covering Real Madrid, Old Juve covering Juventus, Rush The Kop covering Liverpool, and Release The Knappen covering Schalke. His work has been featured in ESPN, Bleacher Report, Yahoo! Sports, NBC Sports, and other outlets. You can contact him at the site’s official Twitter handle @TrivelaEffect or via the site’s official email thetrivelaeffect@gmail.com.