Last season, Arsenal enjoyed one of their most exciting campaigns in years. They came within a hair’s width of winning the Premier League title, only to lose out to Manchester City late on.
Several Gunners players announced their arrival as some of the best footballers in the world – but who will be their top stars next season?
In this piece, we’ll be breaking down the Arsenal squad into three different sections – defence, midfield and attack – and predicting who their best players will be in each position.
Of course, this piece is merely hypothetical. We don’t have a crystal ball – but we’ll be backing up our picks with facts and figures.
Who will Arsenal’s best defender be?
In our opinion, two players stand out in Arsenal’s squad for next season where their defensive ranks are concerned – William Saliba and the newly-acquired Jurrien Timber.
Jurrien Timber, especially, is an interesting addition to the squad. He is most comfortable when playing on the right side of a back three – but as Arteta primarily lines up with a back two, fans are curious as to where he will fit in.
However, we can’t look past Saliba for the title of Arsenal’s best defender. He was nothing short of immense last season – and at the age of just 22, he is only going to get better.
Who will be the star player in midfield be for Arsenal?
This should be an obvious choice to anyone on the surface – the acquisition of Declan Rice should completely change the way Arsenal play, given his defensive and passing attributes.
However, it is easy to forget just how vital Martin Odegaard was the Gunners’ play going forward last season. The Norwegian was consistently excellent, scoring 15 goals and racking up seven assists.
As such, the battle for Arsenal’s star midfielder will be firmly contested between these two. Additionally, Kai Havertz presents an interesting wildcard option – it looks apparent that Arteta will be utilising him in the middle of the park.
Who will be the best player going forward for Arsenal?
This is definitely the hardest section of the pitch to pick an out-and-out ‘best player’ in. Despite this, there are two frontrunners – Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli.
These two young stars set the Premier League alight last season – Martinelli scored 15 goals alongside five assists, while Saka netted 14 goals and registered 11 assists.
With this being said, Gabriel Jesus cannot be overlooked, either. Despite suffering an injury that saw him sidelined for a huge chunk of the campaign, the Brazilian still managed to bag 11 goals and racked up six assists.
