Arsenal Warned They’ve Got Weaker, Pennant Urges Move for Superstar Winger

Jermaine Pennant believes Arsenal’s title defence is already walking a tightrope – and that Mikel Arteta will have no choice but to go big on a superstar left winger.

Twelve months after Viktor Gyokeres arrived as the marquee No.9 signing, the Sweden striker finds himself watching more than leading. Twenty-one goals in his debut season underlined his threat, yet he has started the new campaign behind Kai Havertz in the pecking order, reduced to cameos off the bench.

Around him, the supporting cast has been ripped up.

• Leandro Trossard, whose knack for crucial goals helped tilt last season’s title race, has gone to Besiktas.
• Gabriel Martinelli has ended a seven-year stay in north London to join Al-Hilal in the Saudi Pro League.

Two clutch weapons, gone.

Arsenal flirted with the idea of something truly seismic. There was interest as Vinicius Junior delayed signing a new Real Madrid contract, but the Brazilian stayed put at the Santiago Bernabeu, still very much a ‘Galactico’.

Then came the chance for a different kind of statement. Champions League winner Bradley Barcola became available as Paris Saint-Germain opened the exit door. Arsenal asked the question, sounded out the numbers, and were quoted £123 million. At that price, Arteta and the hierarchy stepped back. Liverpool stepped in.

So Christos Tzolis now patrols the left flank, talented and industrious, but also a reminder of what Arsenal did not quite land. The squad remains stacked with quality, yet that side of the attack still looks like the one obvious spot where an upgrade could transform the picture – especially with the club willing to spend in recent windows and Arteta expected to have serious funds again.

Pennant, speaking to GOAL in association with NetBet Casino, did not dance around the issue when asked if he expects Arsenal to move for an elite winger.

“They have to at some point because teams are not going to sit dormant,” he said. “Teams around them are not going to not strengthen in those areas. Come January, I'm sure the likes of Chelsea, Man United, Liverpool and Man City are going to go in the market again and strengthen again. So they have to.”

Then came the real sting.

“And this is weird saying, but I think they've actually got weaker. I think Arsenal are weaker, especially going forward anyway, than they were last season. Because they've lost some really clutch individuals.

“I think without Trossard they probably wouldn't have won the league. The West Ham goal, you could go on with the important goals he scored – Aston Villa. Then they've lost Martinelli, yeah, his number's dwindled but again it's still a good impact player you can bring off the bench. They've lost him.

“And they've not really replaced that apart from Tzolis. So if he gets injured or whatnot, their left side's kind of doomed. You’ve got to put [Eberechi] Eze out there, he's not a winger, he's a midfielder.

“Yes, they’ve strengthened at the back. So I think going forward they definitely need to strengthen. Because they've probably fallen out of favour with Gyokeres and they've reverted back to [Kai] Havertz, who was never really their 15, 20-goal-a-season guy.”

The numbers on the board argue with him, at least for now. Arsenal have opened the 2026-27 season in ruthless fashion: perfect through three Premier League games and up and running in the Champions League with a win over Napoli. Havertz has led the line, Martin Odegaard has rediscovered his spark as the creative heartbeat, and Bukayo Saka already has two goals.

Arteta can point to the table and the performances and claim he has everything required to launch another assault on major honours. The defence looks tighter, the structure more mature, the team battle-hardened by last season’s title run.

Yet the question lingers on that left flank. Tzolis carries the role for now, but with Trossard and Martinelli gone, the margin for error – or injury – has shrunk. Rivals are circling the January market.

Will Arsenal do the same and finally land the superstar winger Pennant insists they need, or risk finding out the hard way that “weaker” in attack is a step too far for champions?