Arsenal’s failure to win any trophies last season was largely due to a lack of centre-forwards, but a lack of depth in the squad could also be to blame.
The Gunners suffered a number of injuries throughout the 2024/25 season. At one stage they were all without their senior centre-forwards, with Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard also missing for large parts of the season.
Truth be told, things haven’t been much better in that regard during the ongoing season. Victor Gokeres, Kai Havertz and Gabriel Jesus have all missed football, while the entire backline except Miles Lewis-Skelly has missed the game through injury.
It is no surprise, then, that Andrea Berta acted with the intention of strengthening Mikel Arteta’s squad last summer.
How Andrea Berta transformed Arsenal’s team
When Berta arrived at Arsenal in March 2025, he knew he had one main job. It was about signing a striker with Arsenal.
Well, you can check that box. The Gunners ultimately signed Gokeres while pursuing Benjamin Sesco, who eventually moved to Manchester United.
The Swedes seemed like the missing piece of the puzzle. Men, women, children and dogs alike knew Arteta needed a new striker and here he was, fresh from scoring 54 goals in 52 games for Sporting last season.
But while in the British capital, Gökeres’ life was a little more difficult. To be honest, the striker looked like a disastrous waste of money and a player who didn’t deserve to wear the famous number 14 jersey.
He’s now starting to prove people wrong. The £63.5m signing has scored eight goals in his last 12 games and produced his best performance to date in the red and white as Arsenal beat arch-rivals Spurs 4-1. Gökeres was on the scorer’s list twice and bullied Tottenham’s backline.
To be honest, the jury has actually ruled out many of Bertha’s initial signs. Noni Madueke has been tricked into flattering things, even though he moved to London for £52 million and has scored just two goals in 19 Premier League appearances. On the other hand, just like Gokeres, Eberechi Eze seemed like a waste of money.
The England international, a much-hyped signing from Crystal Palace, scored a sensational hat-trick in the first north London derby of the season in November, but between that game and Sunday’s victory he had not scored in 18 games. He bagged twice over the weekend. There’s something about Spurs that makes him come alive.
Arsenal fans will no doubt be looking for more stability from this trio, but importantly they have added much-needed depth that Arteta didn’t have last season. That said, it is further back at the back where Arsenal benefit most from Berta’s work.
Martin Zvimendi has played more minutes than any other outfield player at the club, proving what a good contract he has. Meanwhile, Pierrot Hincapie’s performance is improving week by week. He scored his first goal for the club against Wolves and produced perhaps his best performance since joining the club against Spurs.
That being said, Berta’s best contract was probably one of his cheapest.
The £13m deal is a record deal for Arsenal.
Last summer, Arsenal showed remarkable intent in the transfer market, spending huge sums on the likes of Eze, Gokeres, Zvimendi and Madueke.
However, Berta and Arteta have ensured that some cheaper deals are completed. Back-up goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga was signed from Chelsea for just £5m, Christian Norgaard was brought in for £15m and, most impressively, Cristian Mosquera arrived for just £13m.
It’s safe to say that this move looks like a robbery. Arsenal have pulled off a major heist to lure the young defender away from Valencia.
It was a fairly modest move at the time, but it’s quickly becoming something of a masterstroke. In an era where transfer fees are skyrocketing, this looks like business to watch.
The 21-year-old centre-back may have only played 21 games and 553 minutes in the Premier League for Arsenal, but in the words of analyst Spencer Mossman, he is already “on his way to becoming one of the best centre-backs in the world”.
why? Well, he boasts the best traits of both William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhães. Like Gabriel, he has a warrior’s spirit and his aggressiveness towards the game terrifies attackers. However, like Saliba, he has the composure and grace of an elite-level central defender.
25/26 Mosquera vs Arsenal centre-back | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Statistics (per 90 minutes) | Flycatcher | across | Gabriel |
pass completed | 56 | 70.2 | 53.7 |
Pass accuracy | 91.25% | 92.6% | 89.34% |
won an aerial battle | 1.7 | 2.6 | 3.6 |
Won a ground duel | 3.5 | 2 | 2.4 |
won a duel | 5.1 | 4.6 | 5.9 |
intercept | 1 | 0.7 | 0.8 |
touch | 73.9 | 85.8 | 73.3 |
Number of balls collected | 3.5 | 4.1 | 1.9 |
Mosquera hasn’t missed a beat since moving to England and set his form with a great performance against Liverpool in August.
Saliba limped off from the start with an injury and Arsenal lost, but Mosquera deputized admirably, completing 92% of his passes and winning four of the five matches.
The young defender may not have been first choice this season, but he has put in near-perfect performances whenever injury has forced him to come off the bench.
Mosquera is not only capable of dominating from central areas, but he also proved his versatility with an excellent performance as a right-back against Spurs last weekend.
The youngster came on for Julian Timber in the final 33 minutes and easily scored the match on the right. The former Valencia player won all five matches and lost possession on only three of his 18 touches in the final stages of the game.
It was proof that Arteta has a strong, good defender and is probably one of the best young players in European football.
Granted, times were very different, but this is a move reminiscent of Patrick Vieira and Thierry Henry. Relatively unknown at the time, they joined for £3.5m and £11m respectively and went on to become two of the greatest players in Premier League history.
We are not suggesting that Mosquera will be cast in a bronze statue outside the Emirates Stadium after his retirement, but he is cut from a similar cloth. When he first joined the club, he was still an unknown young player, but he definitely has the same spirit as Vieira, who rose to stardom in north London. It may not be too far off to suggest he is a future captain candidate. He radiates confidence and has an aura that not many people have.
If, as Mosman predicts, he truly becomes one of the best players in the world, the Gunners could be on their way to a £100m talent here.
Saliba is already valued at that price amid interest from Real Madrid and is not out of the realm of possibility.
Arteta needs to let Arsenal star go, ‘one of the best signings of his time at the Emirates’
Arsenal need to make some changes despite beating Spurs.
