Arsenal

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Arsenal may be Premier League champions, but Mikel Arteta expects his side "to go to the next level" during the 2026-27 season.

The 2025-26 season was one which will never be forgotten for Arsenal fans as it ended with Arteta lifting the Premier League title.

However, a new season means new goals, but what is left for Arsenal and Arteta to achieve?

"Ultimately, the goal we all know is to win as many major trophies as we possibly can, and what we have to do is make sure that we click the fire every day to players and the staff to behave in that manner," said Arteta.

Since joining Arsenal in 2019, Arteta has won the Premier League, the FA Cup and two Community Shields, but has failed to lift the Champions League.

"For me, it's like becoming the national manager again, because every season requires an evolution from your part," he added.

"A big reflection of OK, what kind of manager the club needs right now, the players need to be the best version, and I feel fresh with a lot of energy and ready to go again.

"And now it's like building a beast inside you that you want to go through that again, and you know what it's going to take."

The Gunners have completed five signings during the summer window and have already lifted the Community Shield after beating Manchester City 3-0.

They start their defence of the title against Coventry City at home on Friday.

Sports psychologist Dan Abrahams joined the latest episode of Football Daily, in during which BBC Radio 5 Live's Aaron Paul spoke to him about Arsenal defending their Premier League title.

So for Mikel Arteta's squad, when does the preparation start?

"You're doing it straight away, coaches are bringing the right players in, working with their scouts to bolster the squad," said Abrahams.

"Then from day one, you want players hitting the ground running. There are all kinds of different messages, is it 'we've never defended the title so we're going to set that as an objective?' or is it that we're just going to continue the processes that we've done really well in the last season.

"You always try to create mini stories and objectives in the minds of the players when they come back from pre-season. For us at Feyenoord, it was 'let's hit the ground running again, let's have great leadership and teamwork, let's be even better than we were last season, let's make sure no complacency kicks in' because I think that word is so pertinent here. It takes a lot of energy, it's metabolically costly. You've got to be on it every single day."

The Athletic's Amy Lawrence also provided her take: "I'm not a fan of the word 'complacency' being thrown around in football. I don't buy it all that often.

"I'm more interested in how you recreate that hunger when you've pushed yourself to the absolute limit, when you remember the enormity of the stress they have put themselves under for 10 months. Every single week it was on a knife edge and so intense."

Chris Adams
BBC Sport journalist

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Having won four titles in a row from 2020-21 to 2023-24, Manchester City have fallen just short in the past two seasons, and Joe Hart believes Arsenal's players are about to find out how difficult it is to stay at the top like Pep Guardiola's teams did earlier in the decade.

Recalling his two titles with City in 2011-12 and 2013-14, neither of which were defended successfully, Hart told BBC Radio 5 Live's Monday Night Club: "I was walking on water at that time. I actually thought I was 'that guy'.

"Football finds a way, really quickly, of showing you that you're not. And when things started to unravel, which they will in any season, [they] seemed to really unravel because all of a sudden [you're under] that kind of champion scrutiny.

"And it's really important how Arsenal are going to handle that, but Mikel Arteta has done a brilliant job, and he makes really big decisions and bold decisions. And it's about how you handle that first hurt.

"It's ironic that getting to the top is the easy thing, it really is."

Read more on what Hart has to say about the Premier League's big questions here

Fancy testing your football prediction skills? With the new season under way, BBC Sport has just the thing to keep you entertained every week.

After the success of our World Cup Predictor game, we've rebranded it for the club season as Match of the Day Predictor.

It's simple to play - just predict the outcome of the six fixtures we've selected from across domestic and European competitions every week.

And don't worry if you've joined late - players can join at any time, get involved with the latest round and start building a streak.

Once you've submitted your predictions, you'll also be able to see what others think the outcome of the match will be.

Read more about it here

You can find the predictor in the navigation bar at the top of this page, or click here to play

Alex Howell
Arsenal reporter

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Arsenal had some mixed results during pre-season but their dominant win over Manchester City in the Community Shield in Cardiff reminded supporters that the Gunners are still the team to stop.

Mikel Arteta has built a squad with immense depth and the Arsenal midfield could be counted as one of the best in Europe.

Bruno Guimaraes has levelled up the engine room and Martin Odegaard looks back to his best too.

But the biggest question for Arsenal is what they can do in the remainder of what has been a muddled transfer window.

The Gunners tried and failed to bring in Vinicius Jr and missed out on Morgan Rogers, but they are still on the hunt for a forward to upgrade their attack.

Ethan Nwaneri, Gabriel Jesus and Gabriel Martinelli were left out on Sunday in the clearest sign so far that those three players are likely to leave the club.

Arsenal are also looking to bring in a defender and have explored a deal for Bayer Leverkusen's Jarell Quansah as well as Ezri Konsa of Aston Villa.

Villa value Konsa at about £60m but some supporters are questioning whether that would be a smart use of transfer funds.

While William Saliba will be out for a few months, Jurrien Timber could return to first-team training this week.

Once they are back, Konsa or Quansah would have to compete for a place alongside Ben White, Piero Hincapie, Riccardo Calafiori and Gabriel - and the Gunners also have 16-year-old Marli Salmon, who is realistically a cup option this season.

However, with two weeks to go in the window, sporting director Andrea Berta is under pressure to find answers as the season gets under way.

What do you think will happen at Emirates Stadium between now and the transfer deadline on 1 September?

Get in touch with your views here

Pat Nevin
Former footballer and presenter

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Martin Odegaard was some distance from his brilliant best last season, I suspect now that was down to a niggling injury.

I was at the Norway v Brazil game during the World Cup and he suddenly looked like the Odegaard of old. I wondered then if that was just lifting himself for the tournament or the fact that international games are often easier for skilful players than top-level domestic English matches.

I saw enough in Cardiff on Sunday to assure me and indeed the Arsenal fans that it is much simpler, their captain is back to his very best. The field was littered with world-class players, including quite a few valued north of £100m, but he was still head and shoulders above any of them on the day.

His movement was bordering on balletic at times and his finish was the type you usually only ever see in five-a-side match. Putting any pro keeper on his backside with a dummy is difficult. They are trained not to sell themselves. But in that moment, he made Gianluigi Donnarumma look positively oafish. That is not an easy thing to do to one of the best in the business. The swagger from an entire football team is for once totally justified.

Arsenal are no one-season wonders even if they will be chased and perhaps overtaken by Manchester City. Manchester United, Liverpool and maybe even Chelsea with their lack of European distractions could push them all the way too.

But right now it is crystal clear that they are the team to beat.

Pat Nevin writes weekly in the Football Extra newsletter. If you're outside the UK and would like to receive it, sign up here.

Pat Nevin
Former footballer and presenter

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It's the same lament every year, usually from the losers, that "you don't learn anything from the Community Shield season opener".

Sometimes this tie sees the worthy league champions play against a side that has had a good cup run but aren't really the other 'best' team in England. This time however, it was Arsenal and Man City, clearly the two favourites for this season's Premier League title.

If, as it is often proposed, the Community Shield is little more than a glorified friendly, why did both Mikel Arteta and Enzo Maresca field just about the strongest sides they could muster? They were both intent on putting down a marker for the coming season and in the end it was Arsenal who came away with all the positives.

Not only was there a 3-0 win, a nice shiny shield to stuff in the boot of the team bus back to north London but other more important, if less tangible things were brought back from Cardiff's Millennium Stadium.

There was a new swagger about Arsenal that couldn't be mistaken. Winning the league can feel like scaling the highest, hardest mountain; when it is completed after six hard years of work, the idea of making another assault right away can be too much. Clearly it isn't for this Arsenal group, they have the whiff of dynasty builders about them.

The recent arrival Bruno Guimaraes, though peripheral here in Wales, will make them better in terms of squad depth at the very least. Kai Havertz is starting the season fit this time, which will help, and, with a season at the club under his belt, Eberechi Eze will improve further.

Pat Nevin writes weekly in the Football Extra newsletter. If you're outside the UK and would like to receive it, sign up here.

Martin Odegaard's man-of-the-match performance was the highlight of Arsenal's 3-0 Community Shield demolition of Manchester City and showed early signs that the Gunners' chief creator might be returning to his best after a frustrating 2025-26.

Although Arsenal won the Premier League last season, knee and shoulder problems stopped their Norwegian playmaker from reaching his very top level.

He only started 16 times in the league and his one goal and seven assists were his lowest totals since joining the club permanently from Real Madrid in 2021-22.

On Sunday in Cardiff, Odegaard capped an all-action display with a brilliant third goal when his dummy left City goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma on the floor.

Odegaard was a key part at the start of Mikel Arteta's rejuvenation of Arsenal. If he stays fit and keeps up this form, will he feel like a new signing for the Spanish manager?

"Last year was really a big struggle with a lot of difficult moments. To miss so many games because of injury was really frustrating," Odegaard said on Sunday.

"It is the worst thing for a footballer to not be able to be on the pitch and I had quite a lot of weird injuries, and bad luck.

"It was good for me to end the season with a title, here, and then a good World Cup. Then I had my break and I feel good, ready to go again."

"What I have just worked on is to use that as motivation for this year and to come back stronger. And to use all of those experiences in a positive way."

Read more on Odegaard

Arsenal, Manchester City and Tottenham are all interested in Pedro Neto, 26, who joined Chelsea for £54m from Wolves in 2024. (Metro), external

But the Blues want close to £100m if they are to sell the Portugal winger this summer. (Mail - subscription required), external

Want more transfer stories? Read Tuesday's full gossip column

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Chris Collinson
BBC Sport statistician

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Last season, the Premier League was arguably more competitive than it has been for years.

While the 65 points between champions Arsenal and bottom side Wolves was around the average for a 38-game season (63), a real revolution took place in mid-table.

Since the league was reduced to 20 teams in 1995-96, the gap between the top four and the bottom three – between what has often been the Champions League and the Championship – had been increasing as the seasons went by, with the 'bigger' clubs profiting from their European adventures and the extra money they earned by regularly finishing higher in the table.

But last season, the gap between the 'haves' and the 'have-nots' of the Premier League dropped from 44 points in 2024-25 to just 26 points – the smallest distance for 23 years (since 25 points in 2002-03).

The European places were more attainable than they had been for years. Despite taking a point fewer than when they finished seventh the season before, Aston Villa clinched Champions League qualification by finishing two places higher.

While Liverpool took the 'bonus' Champions League place by finishing fifth, their points total of 60 was the lowest by a side finishing there for 19 years and would have put them ninth in 2024-25.

Bournemouth and Sunderland also took full advantage of needing fewer points than normal by qualifying for European competition for the first time ever and for over half a century respectively.

Read more on the Premier League's competitive numbers

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Arsenal have appointed David Horseman as head coach of the club's under-21s team.

Horseman arrived at Arsenal in September 2025 as the elite player development coach, taking charge of the under-19s in the Uefa Youth League and the under-21s in the EFL Trophy.

The 42-year-old has previously held coaching positions at first-team and academy level at Southampton, Watford, Bristol Rovers, Forest Green Rovers and Manchester United.

On his appointment, Horseman said: "I'm absolutely delighted and privileged to be appointed Arsenal Under-21s head coach, following in the footsteps of so many outstanding coaches who have held this position before me.

"It's a huge honour to contribute to the continued success of an academy with such a proud history of developing players for our first team and the wider game."

Academy director Pascal de Maesschalck added: "He has consistently demonstrated a clear understanding of how to manage our talented young players, both as individuals and as a team.

"With his experience, positive mindset and drive, he will continue to help create the perfect environment to realise our objectives and help our young players to succeed."

Gary Rose
BBC Sport journalist

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Arsenal ended their long wait to win the Premier League again by securing the title last season.

It means they begin this campaign as defending champions - something they have not done since the 2004-05 season.

The Gunners are favourites to lift the trophy once more - but what does history tell us about how defending champions perform, and just how likely is it that Mikel Arteta's men can claim back-to-back Premier League titles?

Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola made defending the Premier League title look easy in recent years.

Before Guardiola there were only two managers who had overseen successful title defences in the Premier League era - Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United and Jose Mourinho at Chelsea - and only City have defended their title successfully since 2009.

One of the reasons why it can be so difficult to defend a title is the psychological factor.

For a whole campaign a title-winning team's players have been working hard towards the goal of winning the league and the moment it is achieved will understandably feel like a huge success and relief.

But then, just a few months later, those same players have to build up to the idea of having to do it all again, only this time with a bigger target on their back as defending champions.

Ex-Premier League winger Andros Townsend believes the Gunners will find it hard to replicate their 2025-26 achievement because of the competitive nature of the Premier League.

"The last two times Liverpool have won the title the next season they have not been able to replicate it. They have had relatively poor seasons," Townsend told BBC Radio 5 Live, with the Reds finishing third and fifth after lifting the Premier League trophy.

"When you get over the line, that huge relief. Do you go into the summer with the same sort of aggression and mentality?"

Alex Howell
Arsenal reporter

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Arsenal moved for Christos Tzolis after the best season of his career where he was involved in 40 goals, scoring 17 times and providing 23 assists as Club Brugge were crowned league champions in Belgium.

But before that there had been struggles, notably during his three years at Norwich, scoring just three times in 30 appearances between 2021-2024.

He impressed while on loan at German second-tier side Fortuna Dusseldorf in 2023-24, where he scored 24 goals in 35 games before he left Norwich for Club Brugge and became one of star players in the division.

Since then he has not looked back and Tzolis has developed to become one of the most reliable creators in Europe.

Alongside his two assists, he played more passes into the final third than anyone else in the Gunners team in Cardiff and, despite lacking noticeable pace, Tzolis is extremely effective while on the ball with his work-rate appreciated by manager Mikel Arteta.

Tzolis has replaced Leandro Trossard, who joined Besiktas in July, and Arteta has said there are similarities between the pair.

Trossard recorded more goal involvements in last season's Champions League, but the Greece international produced almost twice as many chances (13 compared to seven) and completed more passes in the final third (138 compared to 80).

Tzolis' performance will not be a surprise for those who have followed his career as he has proved he can shine against Europe's top sides already.

In last season's Champions League he scored against Atalanta and Atletico Madrid, while registering an assist against Barcelona.

• Did you know? Since the start of March, Tzolis has either scored or assisted in all 15 of his competitive appearances at club level (10 goals, 15 assists).

Read more from Alex on Tzolis

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We asked for your thoughts after Sunday's Community Shield between Arsenal and Manchester City.

Here are some of your comments:

Arsenal fans

Ant: Why are the headlines about how poor City were? We played pretty football for two decades and won nothing. We were almost top scorers last season, with admittedly a lot of set-plays but also some good football. I urge you to watch the Jose Mourinho documentary and see the type of football that won them the league. The squad looks great, the fans are happy and expecting. Come on, you Reds!

Michael: Enjoyed it and thought it was a timely message of intent. Great start and some really good performances. Some need to up concentration, but overall a worthy win.

Gabriel: People wanted beautiful football - there it is. Odegaard looks like a shiny new signing and he absolutely dominated the game. Tzolis looks bright and Raya sharp as always. Let's win more trophies!

Carol: Well done, Arsenal - well deserved. The first piece of silverware, with others to follow this season, I'm sure. The journey of a legendary team starts here.

Man City fans

GC: Poor, poor, poor. Let's not kid ourselves, we started a strong XI. No passion, no courage, no idea. Why is Kovacic still here? How is Lewis still in the squad? Dias too! Doku and Semenyo ineffective. Donnarumma OMG! Looked very similar to a Pellegrini performance. Bleak outlook for the season.

Andy: We should be prepared to adjust to changes with the manager and team selection. Pep didn't win anything in his first season - we don't want any kneejerk reaction after just one result.

Barrie: City now look so ordinary with a poor squad overall. Rebuilding necessary fairly quickly, starting with replacement of the goalkeeper.

Ged: First, well done Arsenal. They played us off the park and there's no complaints. Secondly, it's only the first game, so on to the real stuff next week. Some City fans calling for Maresca's head - really?? Calm down. You can always spot the real fans from the glory hunters. Let's see how things are after 30 or so games.

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Former Scotland winger Pat Nevin says Arsenal "have a very good chance of winning the league again this season" after brushing Manchester City aside to win the Community Shield.

Despite missing key players, the Gunners recorded their biggest victory to nil against City since August 2014 - also 3-0 in the Community Shield - and lifted their second trophy in four months.

Sports data analysts at Opta have the Gunners as Premier League favourites, giving Arteta's side a 38% chance of lifting the trophy.

Should they do so, it would be Arsenal's first successful top-flight title defence since way back in 1934-35.

"You can't write them off [winning the league again]," said Nevin on BBC Radio 5 Live's Football Daily podcast. "Arsenal were strong last year, but this is now six years worth of building and improving year on year.

"They have a very good chance of winning the league again this season and I wouldn't write them off lifting the Champions League either because of the depth of the squad.

"If you look to other European teams, there's not that many with the depth Arsenal have."

Izzy Christiansen added: "Once you've had a taste of it, you want more and more.

"The hardest thing about winning the league is dislodging the teams around you to do it, but then you have to sustain it with a target on your back.

"Arsenal show an incredible amount of resilience and depth. Mikel Arteta has made a few tweaks in terms of new signings, but they have evolved from within.

"They have all the equipment to go and do it again."

Listen to the Football Daily podcast on BBC Sounds

New Real Madrid manager Jose Mourinho has approved a move for Arsenal's Spain midfielder Martin Zubimendi, 27. (Teamtalk), external

Nigeria forward Victor Osimhen, 27, has refused to rule out a summer move from Galatasaray, with Arsenal interested. (Caught Offside), external

Want more transfer stories? Read Monday's full gossip column

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