How Arsenal Completely Screwed Themselves This Season (And I Called It in August)

By Lewis Barnett 28 May, 2025 7 mins read 106 Views

God, where do I even start with this mess?

I've been covering Arsenal for six years now, and honestly? This season felt different from the beginning. Not in a good way. In that queasy, "something's going to go horribly wrong" way that makes you check your notes twice and wonder if you're being too pessimistic.

Turns out I wasn't pessimistic enough.

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The Birthday Party That Aged Like Milk

Back in October, Bukayo Saka was apparently telling mates at his birthday bash in Mayfair: "I really believe we are going to win the league." Poor kid. I genuinely feel for him because you could see he meant it - the way he was playing, the energy around the club. But by December, he was hobbling off with a torn hamstring that would sideline him for three months.

That's Arsenal in a nutshell this season. Hope followed by reality checks that hit like a freight train.

Benjamin Sesko: The One That Got Away (Twice)

The striker situation was a disaster from day one, and I'm still annoyed about how predictable it all was. Arsenal had been in "progressive talks" with RB Leipzig about Benjamin Sesko - you know, actual meaningful conversations, not just agent chatter. They thought they had him.

Then June 12 happened. New contract. Done.

A source told me the club was "slightly shaken" by this, which is diplomatic speak for "absolutely gutted." And here's the kicker - 12 months later, Sesko's become their backup option behind Viktor Gyokeres. Talk about sliding down the pecking order.

Gabriel Jesus: The £45m Sicknote

Arteta kept insisting Jesus looked like a "different person" in pre-season. Different how? More injury-prone? Because by August 20, he was out with a groin problem. Couldn't start back-to-back games until mid-December, then - surprise! - ACL rupture in January.

Now they're stuck with an unsellable, unusable asset earning massive wages until 2025. Brilliant business, that.

Meanwhile, Arteta was rushing Declan Rice and Saka back from the Euros with only 24 days rest. In hindsight (and I hate saying this because it's so obvious), maybe running your star players into the ground isn't the smartest strategy.

Deadline Day Chaos and Secret Sterling

August 29 was supposed to be straightforward. Edu was meant to be in Monaco for the Champions League draw. Instead, he made a last-minute U-turn to stay in London, scrambling for solutions.

Here's what's mad - barely anyone at Arsenal knew Raheem Sterling was joining until hours before the deadline. Hours! This is a club that usually plans transfers months in advance, and they're pulling rabbits out of hats on deadline day.

Sterling showed up at the Emirates for the Brighton game less than 24 hours after signing. Went down to the dressing room to meet his new teammates after they'd just dropped two points thanks to Rice's red card. The mood? "Rather despondent," according to someone who was there.

Edu's Bombshell (That Nobody Saw Coming)

November 4. That's when everything really went sideways.

Edu's resignation genuinely shocked senior figures at the club. I'm told some were "emotional" about it - these are people who don't usually show their feelings about business decisions. But they'd grown incredibly close over the years, and suddenly their transfer mastermind was gone.

The replacement process was... methodical. Seven candidates considered before Andrea Berta got the nod on March 30. By then, the January window had been a complete write-off.

January: When Everything Fell Apart

This is where it gets properly embarrassing.

Until Jesus's ACL injury on January 12, Arteta wasn't even actively looking for signings. Fair enough - Ethan Nwaneri and Myles Lewis-Skelly were doing bits from the academy. But when that changed, the execution was absolutely shocking.

They wasted weeks trying to convince Sesko to change his mind (again). When that failed, they lobbed a £40m bid for Ollie Watkins without realizing Aston Villa had just scuppered their Jhan Duran sale to Saudi. Villa weren't selling anyone after that.

Then Havertz needed hamstring surgery. No recognized strikers left. Mikel Merino playing as a makeshift No. 9. It was genuinely painful to watch.

Lucky Charms and Reality

Want to know how desperate things got? Berta gave the Arsenal board special red ties for the Real Madrid quarter-final. They worked! So they wore them again for the PSG semi-final.

The luck had run out by then.

After the final day, Arteta apparently told the owners: "They know what they have to do." Which is manager-speak for "sort this mess out or we're all getting sacked."

Twenty-one years without a Premier League title. Another season of "what if." Another summer of promises.

At some point, you have to stop relying on lucky ties and start making smart decisions from the beginning. But knowing Arsenal? They'll probably just buy different colored ties and hope for the best.

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How To

How to enhance your physical fitness in football

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