The Arsenal squad for the 2024/25 season is locked and loaded for the new season, as Milel Arteta’s men stand on the precipice of greatness.
For the first time in two decades, the Premier League trophy potentially awaited Arsenal on final day. And yet.
So, to 2024/25, and ‘go one further’ is a modern football cliche but with good reason. This is a side four years in the making, blending George Graham’s ‘boring, boring’ brawn with a fluidity that would make Arsene Wenger flash awry smile. Youngsters have matured, new stars have joined and ‘Super Mik Arteta’ has shown ruthlessness in an endless quest for the next marginal gain.
Gooners had to trust the process; now the direction is clear for all to see. Yes, the slightest error is punished. It is likely that Arteta must pick up more points than even the Invincibles did, to climb past his mentor, Pep Guardiola. But this mountain’s summit is in view. It’s time to take that final step.
But what do you add to a team that has everything? In 2023/24, Arsenal had the league’s best defence, keeping a club-record six away clean sheets in a row, and the best expected goals difference – they were almost perfect. Yet, up against a relentless Manchester City, ‘almost’ doth butter no parsnips.
A new striker might give them that extra five per cent prolificacy in the box after drawing blanks in five league games and failing to score from open play at Anfield, the Etihad, the Allianz Arena or Porto‘s Estadio do Dragao.
But, really, Arteta must learn from another Pep staple: rotating often can keep your players fresh for the final furlong. Arsenal’s ultimately-defining loss, a 2-0 home defeat to Aston Villa in April, came from tired legs and minds rather than any tactical failing.
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Arsenal squad for 2024/25
Arsenal squad for 2024/25: Mikel Arteta’s full team
GK: Aaron Ramsdale
GK: David Raya
GK: Karl Hein
DF: William Saliba
DF: Kieran Tierney
DF: Ben White
DF: Gabriel Magalhaes
DF: Jurrien Timber
DF: Jakub Kiwior
DF: Oleksandr Zinchenko
DF: Takherio Tomiyasu
DF: Riccardo Calafiori
MF: Declan Rice
MF: Fabio Vieira
MF: Jorginho
MF: Martin Odegaard
MF: Thomas Partey
FW: Bukayo Saka
FW: Gabriel Jesus
FW: Gabriel Martinelli
FW: Leandro Trossard
FW: Reiss Nelson
FW: Kai Havertz
FW: Eddie Nketiah
Arsenal squad numbers for 2024/25
Swipe to scroll horizontally
No.
Player
Position
1
Aaron Ramsdale
GK
2
William Saliba
DF
3
Kieran Tierney
DF
4
Ben White
DF
5
Thomas Partey
MF
6
Gabriel Magalhaes
DF
7
Bukayo Saka
FW
9
Gabriel Jesus
FW
10
Martin Odegaard
MF
11
Gabriel Martinelli
FW
12
Jurrien Timber
DF
14
Eddie Nketiah
FW
15
Jakub Kiwior
DF
17
Oleksandr Zinchenko
DF
18
Takehiro Tomiaysu
DF
19
Leandro Trossard
FW
20
Jorginho
MF
21
Fabio Vieira
MF
22
David Raya
GK
24
Reiss Nelson
FW
29
Kai Havertz
FW
31
Karl Hein
GK
33
Riccardo Calafiori
DF
41
Declan Rice
MF
Arsenal manager
Mikel Arteta
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta (Image credit: Getty Images)
It’s hard to decide Mikel Arteta’s finest achievement at Arsenal: an FA Cup win with David Luiz at the back or turning Kai Havertz into the world-class attacker he had always threatened to be, all while uniting the most fractured of fanbases.
For his next trick, Wenger’s former club captain is looking to dethrone Pep.
Arsenal’s key player
Bukayo Saka
Bukayo Saka (Image credit: Getty Images)
Bukayo Saka said Arsenal fans “deserved better” during their 2020/21 nadir. He’s since put this side on his back, assumed penalty duties and represented the team’s brain, class and tactical flexibility.
While neutrals may normalise this 22-year-old’s rise, he is the Goonersphere’s cherished son.
One to watch
Leandro Trossard
Leandro Trossard (Image credit: Getty Images)
Leandro Trossard, with his knack of scoring on cue in spite of how well he’s playing, rather than because of it. Last term, the tired-looking Belgian struck against Liverpool, Chelsea, Manchester United, Porto and Bayern at key times: it’s an inevitability Arsenal fans – Anne Hathaway included – absolutely love.
The mood
The last time Arsenal fans were this hopeful, Bukayo Saka was barely out of nappies.
In 2023/24, the Gunners won more games, scored more goals and picked up just one fewer point than the Invincibles, but even their greatest side would have been unable to get past Manchester City’s robots in late-season, game-in-hand mode.
Most likely to…
Field a chocolate Labrador. Arsenal’s club dog, Win, has been a social media hit since arriving last summer, rapidly replacing Gunnersaurus as the fans’ favourite mascot, after his redundancy in lockdown. Ever the opportunists, Arsenal now sell cuddly Win toys, too.
Least likely to…
Leave quietly after a big win. Jamie Carragher criticised Martin Odegaard for ‘over-celebrating’ a 3-1 win against Liverpool, and if we have learned anything from this Arsenal team, it’s that they seem to revel in s**thousery.
View from the stands
Last season was really great fun and a bit gutting.
This season will be different because the data suggests Manchester City slightly overperformed in many of their expected results. The universe owes us a reversion.
Look out for Ethan Nwaneri. The youngester ever Premier League player – he was 15 at the time – is now 17 and in a position where there might be room for a squad player.
The thing my club really gets right is the way we put the women’s team at the heart, for decades, and have now made the Emirates their rightful home as well.
The opposition player I’d love here is Ollie Watkins, a superb striker who fits our style nicely. Plus, we deserve revenge on Unai Emery.
The opposition player who grinds my gears is Son Heung-min – a dirtier player than people realise, and he always scores against us.
The pantomime villain will be the brilliant Ben White, waiting to tie a goalkeeper’s shoelaces together at an attacking comer.
Fans think our owner is OK. Stan Kroenke’s son Josh has greater cache with the fans, but nobody is holding up any banners in their honour yet.
The one change I’d make would be the Visit Rwanda sleeve sponsorship.
I won’t be happy unless Gabriel Jesus has two fully functioning knees.
The fans’ opinion of the gaffer is that we’ve lucked out: Arteta is one of the world’s best young coaches and has transformed the club. If he thinks running over your cat might get him one more point, then you’d better seal up your cat flap.
If he left, he should be replaced by Santi Cazorla. It would be impossible to dislike him, even with bad results.
