Arsenal's Attacking Overhaul: Key Exits and Future Moves
Arsenal’s attack is being ripped up and rewritten, and it all happened in a blur.
By the end of Sunday, Gabriel Martinelli, Gabriel Jesus and Fabio Vieira were all heading for the exit door, with the trio expected to generate around £72 million and clear a hefty chunk off the wage bill. For a club that has spent big and pushed hard for the title, that is a seismic reshaping of the forward line.
According to Sky Sports, Arsenal have agreed a club-record £55.7 million fee with Al Hilal for Martinelli. Barcelona have an £8.6 million deal in principle for Jesus. Vieira is set to join Hamburg for about £7.7 million. Three different careers, three different roles under Mikel Arteta – all converging on the same conclusion.
On their own, each move can be explained. Together, they spark a far more uncomfortable question.
Are Arsenal about to leave themselves short up front?
Three exits, one big dilemma
Vieira’s departure is the simplest to process. He has spent the last two seasons out on loan and has never really forced his way into Arteta’s thinking. A clean break suits everyone. No drama there.
Jesus is a different story, but the logic is still clear. The Brazilian has slipped down the pecking order as competition has grown and his influence has waned. Once the focal point of Arteta’s evolving attack, he now looks like a player the club feels it can move on from, especially with a buyer like Barcelona on the scene.
Martinelli is the shock.
At 25, this is usually the moment a winger tightens his grip on a starting spot, not waves goodbye. He has remained an important squad member, a player Arteta has trusted in big moments. Yet a club-record offer from Al Hilal hands Arsenal the chance to bank a huge profit on someone they signed for a relatively modest fee back in 2019. From a business perspective, it is ruthless but rational.
The worry comes from timing. Losing Martinelli and Jesus in the same window strips away experience, goals and a certain chaos that defenders hate. You can justify both deals on paper. On the pitch, the calculation looks far bolder.
Quality in attack – but is it enough?
Arteta is not left with an empty cupboard. Far from it.
Christos Tzolis has made an encouraging start and looks ready to shoulder more responsibility. Eberechi Eze and Noni Madueke bring flexibility, able to operate across the frontline and between the lines. Through the middle, Viktor Gyokeres and Kai Havertz offer contrasting options: one a classic centre-forward presence, the other a fluid, roaming forward who knits moves together.
There is talent. There is variety. There are different profiles for different games.
But Arsenal are not building for a top-four scrap. They are chasing the Premier League and aiming to go deep in the Champions League. Those campaigns are long, brutal and unforgiving. Injuries, suspensions, loss of form – they arrive without warning. Suddenly, what looks like a well-stocked attack on paper can feel thin in the cold of February.
That is the tension at the heart of these sales. Arsenal’s first-choice options look strong. The question is what happens when Arteta has to dig deeper into his bench.
One last move?
The numbers are stark. Around £72 million raised. Significant wages off the books. Space in the squad. Space in the budget.
It would be a surprise if Andrea Berta and Arteta were not at least exploring another attacking signing before the deadline. Arsenal have been linked with a string of forwards throughout the summer. None of those links has yet turned into a concrete move, but the landscape shifts when two senior attackers walk out in the same window.
Perhaps Arteta believes the answers are already in-house, that the blend of Tzolis, Eze, Madueke, Gyokeres and Havertz – plus the rest of his attacking midfielders – can carry the load. Maybe he trusts the system more than any single individual.
If that is the plan, it is a bold one. Selling Martinelli and Jesus and choosing not to replace either would be a clear gamble in a season where Arsenal will again be stretched across multiple fronts.
The club has cleared the decks, banked the money and opened up room for one more big decision.
Now comes the real test: is this the end of Arsenal’s attacking overhaul, or the prelude to one final, decisive signing?
