Arsenal's 2025 summer transfer window priorities: Viktor Gyokeres must be the Gunners' new No.9 - but Leandro Trossard should lead old-head exodus

We have to start with Arsenal's pursuit of Real Sociedad midfielder Martin Zubimendi. If you have any Gunners fans in your life, then you will have noticed how their stress levels have been increasing over the status of a deal which was supposedly one step from completion, only for the Spain international to act coy when quizzed on it this week.

"Of course there are options, but it's true that it seems like it's going to be a different, long summer, and I don't know how it will end," he told Radiogaceta de los Deportes on Tuesday. "I don't think thinking about that right now is my priority. I'm here with the national team, which I think is already quite demanding, and if I have to say something, then I will."

Now, despite this cryptic admission, reports coming from both Spain and England insist the deal is not in jeopardy, despite the possibility of Real Madrid - now managed by Zubimendi's idol and former coach, Xabi Alonso - hanging over negotiations. Still, it would be best for Arsenal to wrap this up sooner rather than later.

Zubimendi is expected to serve as Arsenal's long-term replacement for Jorginho, who will return to Brazil with Flamengo on a free transfer, as a metronomic midfielder. It's often forgotten how important the Italian playmaker was in Arteta's system during the second half of 2023-24 when they ripped off a run of 16 wins from 18 league games, and so it makes sense to bring in a successor of the same archetype to freshen up the squad again.

Elsewhere, Arsenal are reportedly in talks with Leandro Trossard over a lengthy contract extension, which boggles the mind for several reasons. Though he is one of the squad's most reliable fitness bets, featuring in all 38 Premier League games last season as part of 56 in total, there were notable signs of struggle when it came to replicating his scintillating form of his first 18 months in N5, and with 12 months left on his deal, now is the perfect time to cash in or decide this will be the last dance in a reduced role. Ultimately, if Arsenal are relying on Trossard to play 56 times again in 2025-26, it is unlikely they will lift the Premier League trophy come May.

The same can be said of 52-appearance Thomas Partey, whose contract expires at the end of the month after his 32nd birthday and has been linked with a move back to Spain with Barcelona, despite Arteta admitting he would like to keep the midfielder. Whether the Ghanaian stays or goes, he is entering a different stage of his career and can't be relied upon in the same way either.

Arsenal are in a tricky position with their squad in general because Arteta admitted it needed streamlining last summer, though the flip-side meant they were unnecessarily stretched when it came to battling injuries, and you can't rule out that increasing that workload contributed to the crisis. Regardless, fresh legs and impetus are needed to get up and go again.

Arsenal simply can't go into another season with Trossard and Gabriel Martinelli as their two main options on the left wing. They just can't. Both are fine players in their own right with differing skillsets, but this is one of two positions the club must strengthen in if they are serious about winning a major trophy.

In the case of Martinelli, he hasn't kicked on as hoped after such an impressive 2022-23 campaign in which he flew past full-backs with ease and scored 15 Premier League goals as part of a fluid, break-neck speed attack. His limitations on the ball have been easy for defenders to suss out since. This isn't to say Martinelli should be sold, rather that his minutes should be reduced to make him more of an impact substitute.

Athletic Club's Nico Williams has long been said to be one of the Gunners' dream targets for the role, though his sky-high wage demands in excess of £200,000-a-week and talks over a new deal in the Basque Country will make this extremely difficult to pull off. Arteta and Co will need to cast their net wider to find a suitable alternative.

The German media claim Arteta is interested in a reunion with Leroy Sane, whom he worked with at Manchester City and could yet leave Bayern Munich as a free agent later this month. That would prove quite the market opportunity, yet not quite the marquee signing the club should be looking at. If Rodrygo is granted permission to pursue an exit from Real Madrid this summer, then that's the sort of deal Arsenal should be all over, while it may also be worth knocking on Bradley Barcola's door after losing his starting spot at PSG to Desire Doue.

If you were to survey Arsenal fans over what position they need most in the summer window, roughly 99.9 percent would respond with 'striker'. The club have made only two purchases in that area in the post-Wenger era, with Gabriel Jesus and Kai Havertz the chosen duo. Even then, Havertz was signed as a midfielder, as the Gunners aggressively told the world upon his arrival in 2023.

In fairness, Jesus played like a man possessed during his first six months in north London, and the pivot from his fluidity to Havertz's rigid style has certainly contributed to Arsenal becoming far less entertaining to watch. Forwards with the Brazilian's pre-injury skillset are hard to find, and it's probably why their top two targets this summer more so resemble a traditional No.9.

It has been widely reported that RB Leipzig's Benjamin Sesko and Sporting CP's Viktor Gyokeres are now leading the Gunners' shortlist of marksmen. Sesko appears to have the edge in the race, yet it's the Swede who ought to instead.

A package for Gyokeres would not only prove cheaper, with Sporting lowering their demands to around £60m compared to the £92m Leipzig want for their Slovenian hitman, but he is in the prime of his career and would help Arsenal compete for honours right away. Concerns over the standard of the Portuguese top-flight are valid - especially considering how eerily similar Gyokeres' impact was to Darwin Nunez's when he was at Benfica - though his excellent record in Europe, with the Swedish national team and a previous stint in a once competitive Championship at Coventry City should alleviate fears. The eye test also suggests Gyokeres is nowhere near as erratic a finisher as Liverpool's Uruguayan.

This isn't a slight on Sesko, who will almost certainly grow into one of the world's leading strikers by the end of the decade, but he is far rawer a prospect and project when what the Gunners need is immediate impact. If Arsenal were to sign two centre-forwards, one for the immediate present and one for the long run, then it would relieve some of the pressure Sesko would have to overcome, though that's an extremely unlikely scenario.

If Arsenal don't play their cards right, then they could stumble into a situation more reminiscent of their late-2000s and early-2010s regime, one not too dissimilar to Liverpool of this past year, as there are a number of star players on contracts which are creeping towards expiry, even if not immediately.

Teenage sensation Myles-Lewis-Skelly is still on a modest youth deal running to 2026, and it has been suggested talks over fresh terms have been far from smooth and this has alerted Real Madrid. Losing one of their most promising academy graduates for nothing would be catastrophic, that should go without saying.

Convincing Bukayo Saka, out of contract in 2027, to put pen to paper should be a tad easier given his body of work, high wage already and status as a modern legend in the making. Of all the players currently on the books, he's the one you'd bank on sticking around for the next 10 years through thick and thin. Similarly, Gabriel Magalhaes appears to have developed a deep love for Arsenal and talks with him are steadily progressing.

Then there's William Saliba, another player with two years left on his deal. Publicly, he has claimed of a want to stay and succeed at the Emirates Stadium, yet reports from France suggesting he's already held talks with Madrid over a future move to Santiago Bernabeu should definitely alarm the top brass in north London. This is all part of Los Blancos' long-heralded strategy; within a few months, you'll have Galacticos past and present telling the Spanish media Saliba has 'Madrid DNA'.

To keep the momentum of their own project going, Arsenal must act swiftly and persuade their most valuable players that this is a club worth sticking around at, that this is a movement worth sticking by.

Over the last few days, a small faction of Arsenal fans have dug up an article by The Standard from May 2024, which outlined the club's plans for that summer transfer window. The Gunners were supposedly after a new striker, with Sesko particularly of interest, a winger and central midfielder. Sound familiar?

Arteta wound up acquiring Mikel Merino, who would become a hybrid midfielder and striker over a long season, as well as versatile defender Riccardo Calafiori and backup goalkeeper Neto on loan. Yet the truly major, game-changing additions were nowhere to be seen. If the club are as slow and sloppy in the market this time around, then they will go another season trophy-less.

Reigning Premier League champions Liverpool are getting business done early, with Jeremie Frimpong's arrival set to be followed by those of Milos Kerkez and Florian Wirtz, the latter for a British-record fee if Bayer Leverkusen get their way. Previous title holders Manchester City, who only finished three points behind Arsenal in 2024-25 despite their fall from the summit, are wrapping up moves for Tijjani Reijnders and Rayan Cherki as Pep Guardiola's rebuild continues. The time for action, then, is now.