Arsenal's Weaker Attack: Pennant Calls for Winger Signing

Arsenal warned they have “actually got weaker” as Pennant urges ‘superstar’ winger signing

Arsenal spent big on Viktor Gyokeres a year ago to finally crack the No.9 puzzle. Twenty-one goals later, the Sweden international has delivered on paper, yet he still finds himself watching Kai Havertz start through the middle. For a club that has thrown serious money at its attack, the forward line suddenly looks oddly fragile.

Leandro Trossard, the man for the big moment, has gone. His goals helped tilt a title race, but he is now at Besiktas. Gabriel Martinelli, a symbol of the Mikel Arteta era, has ended his seven-year stay in north London to join Al-Hilal in the Saudi Pro League. Two of Arsenal’s most dangerous left-sided options, gone in the same window.

There were ambitious glances towards the very top of the market. Arsenal monitored Vinicius Junior as his contract talks at Real Madrid dragged on, but the Brazilian remains a cornerstone of the project at Santiago Bernabeu. When Bradley Barcola became available at Paris Saint-Germain, the Gunners asked the question. The answer? A £123 million price tag. Liverpool were prepared to move. Arsenal walked away.

So Arteta turns to Christos Tzolis on that left flank. Talented, direct, eager. But that side of the pitch still screams for an upgrade. The club has relaxed the purse strings in recent windows, and the expectation is that the manager will again have a serious budget to attack the problem.

“They have to at some point because teams are not going to sit dormant,” the former winger told GOAL, speaking in association with NetBet Casino. “Teams around them are not going to not strengthen in those areas. Come January, I'm sure the likes of Chelsea, Man United, Liverpool and Man City are going to go in the market again and strengthen again. So they have to.”

Then came the sting.

“And this is weird saying, but I think they've actually got weaker. I think Arsenal are weaker, especially going forward anyway, than they were last season. Because they've lost some really clutch individuals.”

Trossard is the first name Pennant goes to. The Belgian’s goals against West Ham and Aston Villa stand out as title-shaping moments in a campaign that ended with Arsenal on top of the Premier League.

“I think without Trossard they probably wouldn't have won the league,” Pennant said. “The West Ham goal, you could go on with the important goals he scored - Aston Villa.”

Martinelli’s departure, too, strips Arteta of a weapon off the bench, even if his numbers had tailed off.

“Then they've lost Martinelli, yeah, his number's dwindled but again it's still a good impact player you can bring off the bench. They've lost him.”

“And they've not really replaced that apart from Tzolis. So if he gets injured or whatnot, their left side's kind of doomed. You’ve got to put [Eberechi] Eze out there, he's not a winger, he's a midfielder.”

That is the crux of Pennant’s concern: depth and profile. One injury, one suspension, and the balance of Arsenal’s attack shifts into improvisation.

At the other end, the picture looks brighter. Arsenal have reinforced at the back and look secure. Early evidence in 2026-27 supports that view. Arteta’s side have been flawless across three Premier League fixtures and opened their Champions League campaign with a win over Napoli. The structure holds. The results follow.

Yet even up front, where the numbers are fine, questions linger. Havertz has been preferred as the starting striker, despite never truly being a guaranteed 15-20 goal-a-season centre-forward. Gyokeres, the marquee No.9 signing, has had to accept an impact role off the bench. Bukayo Saka already has two goals and Martin Odegaard has rediscovered his rhythm in a creative role, knitting moves together with the authority of a captain in full flow.

Pennant still sees a gap.

“Yes, they’ve strengthened at the back. So I think going forward they definitely need to strengthen. Because they've probably fallen out of favour with Gyokeres and they've reverted back to [Kai] Havertz, who was never really their 15, 20-goal-a-season guy.”

That is why the call for a “superstar” left winger will not go away. Arsenal have the platform. They have the coach, the defensive base, the momentum of a title win and a perfect start to a new season. But with Trossard and Martinelli gone, and Tzolis carrying a heavy load on that side, the margin for error has shrunk.

Arteta can point to the table, the clean sheets and the goals already shared around his front line. The question is how long he will trust that left flank to hold as it is, while rivals circle the market and sharpen their own attacks.