The Arsenal evolution, not revolution

Chris Howard - Fan writerMon, June 1, 2026 at 1:04 PM UTC

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Mikel Arteta holds up a 'Gunners' scarf as the bus passes by supporters during Arsenal's trophy parade

The culmination of Mikel Arteta's 'process', which has now been well and truly 'trusted', may have reached a climax with the Premier League trophy and subsequent parade this weekend just gone.

But, as Arteta alluded to himself already post-Champions League final defeat, the club always needs to move forward.

He will 100% be doing that now - I bet he doesn't even have a proper holiday - and he will be thinking about next season already! It is part of his DNA and I think it is right.

We have a great squad, a deep squad, but you can't stand still and neither should you in football because this is just a point in time.

You cannot keep all of your players happy and so, inevitably, there needs to be churn at the club. It is healthy, but Arteta needs to know who the key pillars are in his team.

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Two years ago, I would have said Martin Odegaard but I'm not so sure now. I would have also said Gabriel Martinelli but, again, I don't think that is the case.

There are not many sacred cows in this Arsenal squad, and I don't think there should be. Change is risky for sure, but nothing lasts forever.

Fresh ideas don't just come from the manager or his coaching staff; they come from the players too, so I back Arteta to be looking at his squad and making some difficult decisions about players who we all really love but need to move on to make space, possibly for those new ideas and new ways of playing.

The great thing about the way Arteta and the club have gone about their player acquisition in the last three or four transfer windows is that they haven't just recruited for talent, but for mentality and personality too.

They do their due diligence and, for me, that's why I don't see change as a bad thing in terms of players leaving and new ones coming in to replace them.

Find more from Chris Howard at Suburban Gooners and the Same Old Arsenal Podcast

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Source: “AOL Sports”