Though it took a couple of seasons, the Spaniard was clear in his desire to weed out the dressing room troublemakers and replace some ageing players with hungry and talented youngsters.

Arsenal in Arteta's image

Trusting the process became the phrase which Arteta and his staff leaned into, thereby giving themselves some leeway in that process, as they continued to build.

Rome wasn't built in a day, and despite some vociferous opposition from Gunners fans at times, neither was Arsenal.

It's therefore to the board's great credit that they allowed Arteta the time to get things as he wanted them, and of course, they were all rewarded when the squad landed the club's first Premier League trophy in 22 years at the culmination of the 2025/26 campaign.

Coming within a penalty shootout of adding a maiden Champions League will have hurt, though in true Arteta style, it's given him the drive to keep improving.

Great start to 2026/27

Certainly, Arsenal have begun the 2026/27 season in the best possible way, and at the time of writing, are once again sat proudly atop the Premier League table, with 27 points from their 10 games.

The only team to beat them in the English top flight, Brighton and Hove Albion, find themselves in second place, though they're already five points behind.

Even at this early stage, the title is very much Arsenal's to lose.

Perhaps with that in mind, the club appear to be working behind the scenes in order to land those players that Arteta believes will push them to even greater heights.

One player who is on their radar is brilliant Spanish midfield talent, Alex Baena, who is currently plying his trade at Atletico Madrid.

With Arteta looking for a midfielder who can drive through the defensive lines at pace and make Arsenal much more vertical in the process, Baena is seen as a perfect candidate.

Could Zubimendi end up at Atleti?

Where the Gunners could hold a trump card, too, is with Atletico's own interest in Martin Zubimendi, who would seem to have fallen out of favour at the Emirates, despite a party line to the contrary.

Whether or not the former Real Sociedad player would be used as a makeweight in any deal to bring Baena to North London isn't clear at this stage, though it's worth pondering exactly what else the 25-year-old could bring to Arsenal, should he be signed as soon as January 2027.

Since the beginning of the 2025/26 campaign, only three Atleti players have more than Baena's seven assists, and just five (Julian Alvarez, Alexander Sorloth, Antoine Griezmann, Ademola Lookman and Giuliano Simeone) have scored more than his seven goals.

Simone, David Hancko, Marcos Llorente and Koke are the only players to have made more than Baena's 62 appearances, and Alvarez is the one player to score more than the attacking midfielder's three goals from outside the box.

Baena needs to improve pass completion

54 total shots again place Baena in Atleti's top five for this particular metric, and his 50 per cent big chance conversion is the joint-best in the squad for any player that has created more than one big chance.

Attempting 77 dribbles, more than the vast majority of his teammates, along with 585 total ball carries, shows how positive the player remains, and how he's always looking to be on the front foot and willing to take the game to the opposition. It's these elements that have seen his Flashscore rating soar as high as an 8.2 recently.

An 80.81 per cent pass completion rate is one of the lower outputs from an Atleti point of view, and this would be an area that would need almost immediate improvement if he were to pitch up at the Emirates.

Each of Declan Rice, Martin Odegaard, Eberechi Eze and Zubimendi has provided a better return, ranging from 85.39 per cent to 88.67 per cent.

Of those Arsenal players mentioned above, only Eze has scored more goals (12), attempted more dribbles (121), and had more total shots (60) than Baena since the start of last season, whilst Rice's 14 assists are exactly double that of the Spaniard's.

It's clear, then, that the former Villarreal man would be a wise addition to the Gunners squad, with the only real negotiation point being whether Zubimendi is used in a swap deal, or if a straight cash buy is what tempts Atleti to the table.