Mikel Arteta has made a serious statement of intent in this summer transfer window by signing £30million Portuguese star Fabio Vieira, and the Arsenal boss is showing no signs of stopping there.
Given the backing of his board to overhaul his squad, Arteta has wasted no time in making plain he wants several top players to bolster his Gunners squad.
Vieira’s arrival has Gunners fans dreaming of a place at the Premier League‘s top table once again, having devastatingly missed out on Champions League football to their bitter rivals Tottenham.
Mikel Arteta is set to make significant changes to his Arsenal squad this summer
With several established players set to leave the Emirates, this summer could see the building of a very different Arsenal team than that which kicked-off last season’s Premier League.
With the potential for a highly-attacking, high-energy first team on the cards, Sportsmail takes you through how Arteta’s side could line up from August 6.
GOALKEEPER
There is no real contest here, in that last summer’s signing Aaron Ramsdale has firmly established himself as Arteta’s No 1.
Aaron Ramsdale has firmly ensconced himself as Arsenal’s No 1 after a successful first season
Bernd Leno has made no secret of his frustration at being sidelined and Fulham are interested in snapping him up, with USA international Matt Turner arriving to replace him. Arthur Okonkwo, just 20 years old, is every inch the academy back-up.
Ramsdale
DEFENDERS
Arteta has rarely had the luxury of deploying what would be his first choice defence given the spate of injuries they have suffered, in particular Scotland star Kieran Tierney. But the Arsenal boss focused on bolstering his defence last summer and it now looks fairly settled.
Nuno Tavares and Cedric Soares have shown they are not good enough to compete at the elite level, so Tierney easily slots back in to give Arsenal width and attacking bite from the back.
A fully fit Kieran Tierney is no question first-choice left back, given his fine attacking skills
Takehiro Tomiyasu proved himself to be a more than capable right-back when called upon
Given the promise shown in the burgeoning central defensive partnership of Ben White and Gabriel, Japan’s Takehiro Tomiyasu moves to right-back, where he has proved more than capable despite being regarded as a centre-back first.
Tierney, Gabriel, White, Tomiyasu
MIDFIELD
Here is where Arteta’s first questions come up. Securing a solid defensive base…