If Arsenal come away from the 2025/26 season with a trophy in their arms, most notably the Premier League or Champions League, it’s likely they will have had their immense squad depth to thank.
While the Gunners were not active during the winter market, Andrea Berta and the Kroenke’s spent a shedload on improving the squad over the summer.
Viktor Gyokeres was the marquee addition but funds were provided to bolster every single area of the squad. Martin Zubimendi and Christian Norgaard have added greater luxuries to the midfield while Noni Madueke and Eberechi have added a sprinkle of extra creativity and unpredictability to the forward line.
The defence wasn’t neglected either, of course it wasn’t. In that area of the pitch, Kepa Arrizabalaga arrived to play second fiddle to David Raya. Cristian Mosquera and Piero Hincapie also walked through the door.
Each and every one of the summer arrivals had played a key part to date, even Kepa who has helped the Gunners reach the Carabao Cup final.
How Arteta’s squad building has improved Arsenal
It’s safe to say that when Mikel Arteta took over at Arsenal, the squad was something of a mess. The squad Unai Emery left him with rather says it all.
The defence was perhaps the biggest point of contention. Long gone now are the days of Shkodran Mustafi, Calum Chambers and Rob Holding. Now, the Arsenal backline is arguably the finest in Europe.
Gabriel Magalhaes and William Saliba are two of the best centre-backs in the world and have played a hand in keeping 21 clean sheets in their 39 matches throughout 2025/26.
While Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli remain from those days under Emery, the forward line also has a lot more meat on the bones.
Last term they did have to rely on Mikel Merino in the no.9 position due to several injuries but fast forward a year and all of their strikers are fit again. Gabriel Jesus, Kai Havertz and Gyokeres form a fine stable of attacking talent.
When Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang left, the back-up option to Alexandre Lacazette was Eddie Nketiah. The difference between then and now is clearly night and day.
That does, however, mean that plenty in this Arsenal team are struggling for as many minutes as they would like.
The biggest losers from Arsenal’s squad depth
If those in red and white are wearing Premier League winners’ medals come May, then not many at the club will be able to complain about their lack of minutes.
There have been some chief suspects this season. Eberechi Eze – the scorer of that hat-trick against Spurs – has barely started a game of football since doing so, limited to just one league start in 2026 thus far.
Ben White has also suffered at right-back, restricted to five Premier League starts across the entire season. That said, arguably the biggest loser this campaign has been Myles Lewis-Skelly.
Last season, he and Ethan Nwaneri burst onto the scene in quite some style, and while it was Nwaneri who had always been tipped for stardom, it was Lewis-Skelly who made himself undroppable, celebrated as a “future captain” of the club club insider Hand of Arsenal.
Injuries to Riccardo Calafiori and Oleksandr Zinchenko meant that the teenager played a lot of football at left-back. Between the 14th of October and the end of the season, he only missed two league games, one of which was due to suspension.
He also started both matches against Real Madrid and both legs against PSG in the Champions League. He earned rave reviews, notably from Rio Ferdinand, who, speaking during Arsenal’s clash at the Bernabeu, stated: “His date of birth is right, isn’t it? He looks so calm and so cool in and out of possession. Before the game he was on a call, just talking and chilling. He is special.”
It felt like the 19-year-old could do no wrong, also becoming a regular at international level, scoring on his England debut.
If 2024/25 was the season of his life, 2025/26 has been anything but. It’s important to remember that he is still incredibly young but the volume of football he’s received this time around has been slim, to say the least.
Calafiori’s form at the beginning of the season meant there was no way in and the arrival of Hincapie has done little to improve Lewis-Skelly’s game time.
|
Minutes played by Arsenal defenders – 2025/26 |
|
|---|---|
|
Player |
Mins played |
|
Jurrien Timber |
2,736 |
|
William Saliba |
2,525 |
|
Gabriel Magalhaes |
2,263 |
|
Riccardo Calafiori |
1,620 |
|
Piero Hincapie |
1,389 |
|
Myles Lewis-Skelly |
1,207 |
|
Ben White |
1,001 |
|
Cristian Mosquera |
988 |
|
Marli Salmon |
21 |
He has only started once in the top-flight all season, the 2-1 win over Brighton on 27th December. In 2026, he has been seen for just 33 minutes in the league and hasn’t been seen at all across the last four Premier League matches.
The young Englishman did, at least, start the Champions League clash with Kairat Almaty and the 4-1 win over Portsmouth in the FA Cup.
However, it feels like those games are the only type of matches in which Arteta currently trusts him. The Gunners do play Wigan Athletic in the FA Cup next weekend and he may well start that game. Even that is uncertain, though, with Calafiori and Hincapie rotating between each other as the first-choice left-backs. Indeed, it was the former who started against Sunderland on Saturday and Hincapie who replaced him in the second half.
On that evidence, barring injury, we may not actually see Lewis-Skelly start another game this season, particularly in the Premier League.
The teenage sensation will no doubt have a fantastic career but he’s certainly been the biggest loser from Arsenal’s immense squad depth.
Saved by Gyokeres: Arteta must bench Arsenal man who only made 9 passes
Arsenal now sit nine points clear at the top of the Premier League after a 3-0 win over Sunderland.
