Arsenal Keep or Dump: Find Ødegaard replacement? M…

Arsenal won their first Premier League title in 22 years and are into the Champions League final.

Hands down, this season has been a huge success on the pitch. After finishing second for three consecutive seasons, manager Mikel Arteta was able to get his side to the next level with some tactical tweaks and an ambitious (and expensive) summer transfer campaign.

Now, Mark Ogden and Gabriele Marcotti put themselves in the role of sporting director and try to answer some of the biggest questions facing the club right now.

This is the third in this year’s Keep or Dump series, which examines the most pressing questions facing the Premier League and Europe’s biggest clubs in the summer transfer window. Liverpool can be found here and Manchester United can be found here.

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– Inside Arsenal’s five-phase plan to win the Premier League title
– Ian Darke’s Premier League Best XI, Most Disappointing XI
– Catharsis and joy: Arsenal finally lift Premier League trophy after 22-year wait

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1. Mikel Arteta’s contract expires at the end of next season. Should he be rewarded now with an extension (and a pay raise), or is it best to revisit in the autumn?

Mark and Gab agree: The answer is an obvious “yes” now that the season is over. There’s no real argument that Arteta hasn’t earned a new deal on the pitch.

While it’s not necessarily critical that a new deal get done over the summer as opposed to the start of next season — there’s no real danger of him going elsewhere — locking him in might help in the transfer window.

What will be important is a conversation of how he sees the club playing next season, because that will inform how Arsenal operate in the summer. In previous years, the Gunners were a far more free-flowing, attacking force. This past campaign, the club adapted, becoming more physical and conservative, and it delivered results. What’s next?

His huge wages make him difficult to shift, and the Gunners won’t get much of a transfer fee (if any), but it’s time to move on from Gabriel Jesus.

Martinelli, at 24, will have suitors, and it shouldn’t be difficult to get a decent fee for him. Some will be sad to see him go, but his playing time and his performances both declined this season. And with fellow winger Noni Madueke around, those trends are unlikely to change.

We both like Trossard as his profile is different from the others. He’ll be 32 years old in December, so if he’s happy to stay without a new deal — or open to discussing a deal in the autumn — we’d keep him around.

Nørgaard hardly played last year, but he fills a specific role as “insurance” in the defensive midfield position. At 32, he won’t fetch much of a transfer fee anyway and, if he leaves, Arsenal would have to replace him. It makes financial and sporting sense to keep him.

3. Arsenal spent a lot of money on Viktor Gyökeres last summer. Are he and Kai Havertz sufficient striker options? Or should the club move Havertz and bring somebody else to back up — and maybe challenge — Gyökeres?

Mark and Gab disagree on this one.

Mark thinks Arsenal should bring in another forward. Julián Álvarez is clearly a top target — though Mark concedes it won’t be easy as he’s linked to Barcelona and other clubs and certainly won’t come cheap. Mark would also keep both Gyökeres and Havertz.

Gab sees it differently. While Álvarez would be a phenomenal addition, who could also be an option down the left, he doesn’t see how you can add him while keeping the other two.

Álvarez will cost a bundle and, if he comes, Arsenal would want to get some cash back by shifting Havertz. His residual value on the books is £24 million but the club should be able to get considerably more than that, even though his wages will put people off.

The club needs a third option at center forward, but Gab is happy with a youngster or a cheaper veteran, even on loan.

4. Myles Lewis-Skelly and Ethan Nwaneri played significant roles at a very young age in 2024-25, but last season they had a minimal role. Nwaneri was loaned to Marseille, where he struggled for minutes. Where do they fit in?

Arsenal made big commitments to both of them, so it makes sense to get them enough minutes to develop, while also thinking about a long-term pathway. Lewis-Skelly got meaningful minutes late in the season as a midfielder culminating in the Champions League semifinal against Atletico Madrid. Clearly, that’s where his future lies.

It’s fairly crowded in the middle of the park with Martin Ødegaard, Declan Rice, Eberechi Eze, Martín Zubimendi and Nørgaard. If Arteta is going to rotate, Lewis-Skelly will get his playing time.

Nwaneri’s case is a bit different. If he stays, he’ll have Eze and Ødegaard ahead of him in central midfield, Saka and Madueke on the right wing, plus Max Dowman in the mix too. His natural position is probably more central anyway.

Unless the club is ready to shift Ødegaard or Eze, which neither Mark nor Gab want to do, it’d need to find a home for him on loan. But it’s a decision that requires careful consideration to find the right manager and environment.

5. David Raya, Declan Rice and Jurriën Timber all have contracts through 2028. But, unlike the other two, Raya does not have an option for an extra year. He obviously deserves an extension, but how far out should that decision be pushed financially?

Raya has been exceptional, arguably the best goalkeeper in the Premier League. He deserves a big bump. Not necessarily Gianluigi Donnarumma-type money — i.e. not £20 million a year — but enough to recognize what he has given us and lock him down until, say, 2030, when he’ll be 34.

As for the other two, there’s no need to do anything now, but the club needs to be mindful of their contracts. Rice is 27 and has been fantastic, but his next deal will take him into his 30s. Timber was great before his injury and, at 24, he’ll also need a new deal.

6. Martin Ødegaard is coming off two tough seasons. Do Arsenal need an alternative in that attacking midfield role? Or is there one in-house, such as Eze or Nwaneri?

Ødegaard is the club captain, but Mark and Gab feel it makes sense to listen to offers.

It’s not just that his last two seasons have been underwhelming (and marred by injuries) — it’s that his contract is up in 2028. If the club was to move him, now is when it would get the maximum fee. That means in the next year, Arsenal will have to decide whether to extend him, and that extension would take him into his 30s.

Mark also sees him going backward. He’s a really talented player, but he spends too much time taking the ball off the center backs rather than using his skill set in the attacking third. He has become a safe footballer.

For the right offer, Mark and Gab would open to a move — his residual amortization is around £10 million, so the club wouldn’t need an enormous fee. Of course, if that happens, the club could keep Nwaneri and look to Lewis-Skelly and Eze to fill his role.

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Conclusion

The respected football finance blog Swiss Ramble reckons Arsenal could net record revenue in 2025-26 but still make a loss — just like in 2023-24 and 2024-25 when the club netted modest losses of £1.4 million and £17.7 million respectively.

The net spend last summer was Arsenal’s highest ever — £251.4 million — and the club is already £52 million in the hole this summer because Piero Hincapié‘s deal still needs to be made permanent.

Arsenal already transferred Jakub Kiwior to Porto for around £15 million (plus add-ons) and should get around £12 million, maybe a little more, for Fabio Vieira, who had a good season on loan at Hamburg. Hopefully Arsenal get a decent fee for Martinelli, too (Gabriel Jesus will be more difficult).

That might give the club enough a cushion to sign a quality attacking player, ideally one who can play on the left and maybe up front. But it probably won’t be Álvarez or someone on that level, unless another club is interested in Havertz or Ødegaard.

All told, Arsenal are in pretty good shape both in terms of squad and finances. But the club needs to stay ahead of the curve. Between this year and next, there will be some big calls to make.