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By Tony Attwood
Last season Arsenal had a 22-player squad list. And by a curious coincidence on 3 June 2024 Arsenal announced that they were releasing 22 players. The two names that grabbed the headline were Mo Elneny who was reported to be very annoyed and upset by the situation, and Cédric Soares.
Mohamed Elneny moved to Arabia where he played 24 times for Al Jazira, (although at least one site I have seen reduces this to “4”), scoring one goal. Probably more to the point though is the news that he has a Uefa “A” coaching licence which is obviously where he sees his future.
Cédric Soares left Arsenal on 30 June 2024 at end of his contract with the club having been on loan with Fulham. It wasn’t until 27 January 2025, that he signed a contract with the Brazilian club São Paulo FC, initially for three months and then for a year.
Arsenal then went into the campaign with a registered squad of 22 players, many of whom the pundits are now saying that Arsenal will sell. But of course, such articles never take into account the issue of the need for back-up players in the squad to cover for injuries, or the home-grown players rule, a luxury such commentaries can afford by only looking at individual players, not the whole squad.
The home-grown players last season were David Raya, Declan Rice, Bukayo Saka, William Saliba, Raheem Sterling, Gabriel, and Ben White. So if any of those players are moved on then the gap they will leave one way or another can only be filled by a home-grown player.
There is also chit-chat about Martinelli being sold, and again what is never mentioned is that he comes with that valuable “home grown” qualification, so again could only be replaced by another home-grown player. In the list below the players counting as home grown from last season’s squad are given an asterisk.
As things stand our home growners are Raya, Rice, Saka, Saliba, Gabriel and White, which means that without another HG, our squad is limited to 24.
Although transfers can be announced at any time from now on, we might remember that last summer Arsenal made no such announcements until 15 July, when it was confirmed that Sambi Lokonga had gone on loan to Sevilla and Nuno Tavares to Lazio. There was mention of Tavares then having arrangements to stay at Lazio under certain conditions. At the moment I’ve got no certain information on the future of either of them.
Tavares is now 25 and has been on three separate loans, (Marseille, Nottingham Forest and Lazio) while Sambi Lokonga has had loans with Crystal Palace, Luton Town and Sevilla. If you have definitive information on what is happening to these players do let us know.
Of the other players who left last summer the one I followed with the most interest was Emile Smith Rowe who seemed to have a great talent but was endlessly hampered by injuries. He managed 34 appearances for Fulham last season, more than he achieved in any season for Arsenal.
In terms of loans, Karl Hein, the goalkeeper who plays for Estonia was also on loan last season with Real Valladolid and played 30 times for them. Meanwhile Fábio Vieira went to Porto on loan last season and played for them 26 times and again now seems to be back with Arsenal.
Continuing with the loan theme, our backup goalkeeper from last season was Neto, who was borrowed from Bournemouth. As far as I recall he didn’t manage a single league game. I’ve no idea whether he will be staying.
Of the players who left Arsenal, Aaron Ramsdale played 30 times for Southampton and so was a significant part of their relegation squad. He was reported as being sold for £18m plus £7m in add-ons, but I am not sure if any of those extras came into play, given that they only won two games and conceded more goals than any other club in the Premier League last season.
Eddie Nketiah, who had come up through the Arsenal Academy also moved on, going to Crystal Palace,and as a result has now won the FA Cup twice in his career, which is not bad going. He played 29 times for Palace last season, having made 168 appearances for Arsenal. As with all transfer fees these days there was an initial fee (£25m in this case) and extras, which I imagine were brought into play by his number of games and the FA Cup win.
Meanwhile, as we start to contemplate next season (and yes I do know the last one has only just ended) it is interesting to note that nine out of 20 clubs in the League will also be playing in Europe. In the Champions League, we have Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester City, Chelsea, Newcastle United, and rather laughably Tottenham Hotspur who finished 17th, which is one place above the relegation places.
Then in the Europa it is Aston Villa and FA Cup winners Crystal Palace, and finally in the Conference it is Nottingham Forest who ended up seventh last season.
