As a club, Arsenal are in an interesting place at the moment. They're clearly quite good, on pace for their third consecutive second-place finish in the Premier League. The last time they accomplished such a feat was 2003-05, which included their famous Invincibles title winning season in 2004.
Whether it be goal difference, expected goals or adjusted goal difference (a metric that accounts for both goals and expected goals), Arsenal come out looking like the second-best team in the Premier League. Considering the significant number of injuries they've dealt with and that they lead the league in red cards, it's a credit to them that they've managed to maintain a high floor.
And yet, you could forgive Arsenal fans for feeling this season was a missed opportunity.
During this dominant era of Manchester City football under Pep Guardiola, the rest of the Premier League have been hoping for a "season from hell" from them while also hoping to be in position to take advantage. While this did already happen to some extent in 2019-20 when Liverpool claimed their first league title since 1990, the 2024-25 season has truly been that golden opportunity. Instead of Arsenal being the club to climb to the top after running Man City close in 2023 and 2024, it's once again been Liverpool, with the Reds cruising towards the title under new manager Arne Slot.
This summer could be an era-defining transfer window for Arsenal as they continue to hunt for a first league title since 2004. With the expansion of the Club World Cup along with extra matches in the Champions League, clubs at their level will need deeper squads and must be more willing to rotate throughout the season. Having more depth has never been more important.
With all that in mind, it would be an interesting exercise to look at potential options at striker, a key area Arsenal would have to fortify. For the many good things that can be said about Kai Havertz, asking him to be the lead striker every week is asking a ton, especially given the severe hamstring injury he'll be recovering from going into the 2025-26 season.
There are a number of options Arsenal could go with, depending on how they envision their current project unfolding. (It's worth noting they've been looking at RB Leipzig's Benjamin Sesko since last summer, with hopes fading at the end of the transfer window.) Beyond him, we'll look at three different options based on prioritizing the short-term, finding balance between short and long-term, or taking the long view approach.