Arsenal's summer window rated - Eberechi Eze brilliant, Noni Madueke baffling
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Credit: Imago
Oliver Walton
Thu 4 September 2025 14:21, UK
Arsenal splashed the cash over the course of the summer transfer window to give Mikel Arteta the best chance of winning the Premier League title this season.
Arsenal needed to spend big ahead of the new campaign after another second-placed finish last term and an exit in the semi-finals of the Champions League.
There have been numerous high-profile incomings into Mikel Arteta‘s squad over the last few months, while they have retained all of their key men and mostly only sold fringe players.
Football Insider have looked at all of their summer dealings, for either transfer fees or loan deals, and graded and reviewed them.
Credit: Hasan Karim, Breaking Media
Kepa Arrizabalaga (£5m permanent from Chelsea) – 7
This signing makes a lot of sense for all parties, even though Chelsea will undoubtedly feel a sense of regret that they have made a huge loss on Kepa after he became the world’s most expensive goalkeeper when he joined in 2019.
Kepa has joined Arteta’s side to be a back-up to David Raya, and he is surely one of the best in that role in world football right now after a stellar loan spell at Bournemouth last term.
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Viktor Gyokeres (£64m permanent from Sporting) – 8
He was a wanted man off the back of an unbelievable few seasons at Sporting, but Arsenal beat off some strong competition for his services to seal Gyokeres’ signature this summer.
Credit: Manh Tung, Breaking Media
The Swedish striker has already settled well into life in North London, with a brace against Leeds United to grab his first Premier League goals in the second game of the campaign.
Arteta has been crying out for a genuine goalscoring centre-forward for a number of years, and especially after their attacking struggles last term, and there is every chance that Gyokeres could be the man to finally deliver league glory to the club if he continues to net consistently this season.
Piero Hincapie (loan with option to buy for £48.5m from Bayer Leverkusen) – 6
Despite his prowess, Hincapie is a relatively unknown commodity in English football, and he has joined the club on loan from Leverkusen with a view to a permanent move.
The Ecuador international centre-back has been a regular in the Bundesliga over the last few years, but despite his probable quality, it is tough to rate this too highly due to his potential to be sat on the bench behind Gabriel and William Saliba all season.
Cristhian Mosquera (£13m permanent from Valencia) – 7
Mosquera has arrived in North London to provide more defensive competition to Arteta’s already strong backline.
He impressed in his Premier League debut against Liverpool last time out, and may well be an unsung hero for the Gunners if he can continue those kinds of performances, especially considering his relatively low transfer fee.
Christian Norgaard (£10m permanent from Brentford) – 7
Norgaard is a pretty unusual signing for Arsenal to make at this stage of their journey under Arteta, but bringing in such an established top-flight player for such a low fee does actually make a lot of sense.
Credit: Imago
Norgaard will not be expected to be starter every week in all competitions, but his all-round game and nous will be key off the bench, while the Gunners will also likely benefit from his set-piece threat.
Martin Zubimendi (£51m permanent from Real Sociedad) – 7
This is a big fee for a player that does not seem to be a particular standout in many aspects of the game, but that is the beauty of Zubimendi’s style, as he gets things done in a composed manner so well that he often goes unnoticed.
He will be a mainstay in Arteta’s side this season and for years to come, provided he stays fit, and could well develop into a key man in a successful Arsenal side if he continues the kind of form he showed in his time at Real Sociedad and at international level with Spain.
Eberechi Eze (£60m permanent from Crystal Palace) – 10 – (Star deal)
Eze was meant to go to Tottenham before Arsenal hijacked his move, and his switch to the Emirates Stadium promises to bring success to the club, given his talents and star quality.
Credit: Hasan Karim – Breaking Media
The England playmaker was a key man for Crystal Palace in his five years there, but will now have to adapt to being surrounded by top players rather than being a big fish in a small pond, which should be no trouble.
This signing has all the makings of being very fruitful for the Gunners, and Eze will surely be a star at the club for a number of years to come provided he stays injury-free.
Noni Madueke (£48.5m permanent from Chelsea) – 3 – (Worst move)
Madueke completed his cross-capital switch to Arsenal pretty early on in the window, in a move that took many by surprise due to his first-team, regular starter status at Chelsea.
Enzo Maresca’s willingness to let him leave should make alarm bells ring at Arsenal, and it is not as if the winger is set to start regularly on the right wing behind Bukayo Saka, so will likely be stuck on the left side, where he has played so far this term.
AppearancesGoalsAssists92209Madueke’s Chelsea career stats
This signing seems to make little sense on the face of it, and right now it seems like one that is most likely destined to fail out of all of their incomings.
Jakub Kiwior (loan with £14m obligation to buy to Porto) – 7
Kiwior was mooted with a move away from Arsenal early on in the summer window, and he finally made the switch to Portuguese giants Porto on deadline day.
Arsenal have already replaced him with the signing of Mosquera, and it looks as if Kiwior’s career at the club is now over with a permanent move away set to happen at the end of the season.
Reiss Nelson (loan with option to buy to Brentford) – 7
Nelson has often been the nearly-man in North London, but he needed to leave this summer so as to progress his career after failing to impress at Fulham last term.
Credit: Imago
Brentford is a good move for him, given their status as an established Premier League side, and Arsenal will be glad to have him off their books with another permanent move potentially in the offing next summer.
Fabio Vieira (loan with £17m option to buy to Hamburg) – 7
The fee for Hamburg to sign Vieira is the real standout from this move, even though Arsenal will take a loss on his services, because he has not played once for the club in the last two campaigns.
Vieira is another who needed to leave again this summer, and he could help to kickstart a new dawn at Hamburg as they aim to survive on their long-awaited return to the Bundesliga.
Oleksandr Zinchenko (loan to Nottingham Forest) – 6
Zinchenko also looked likely to leave Arsenal from the end of last term, but it took until the very end of the window for him to seal a loan switch to Nottingham Forest.
Credit: Imago
While he has got off on a bad foot in the East Midlands after being left out of the club’s Europa League squad, the Gunners will again be happy to see him gone rather than sitting in their reserves all season.
Karl Hein (loan to Werder Bremen) – 7
Young goalkeeper Hein has taken the next step-up in his career to join Werder Bremen on loan after a decent spell in La Liga with Real Valladolid last term.
This feels like a move that may well become permanent at the end of the season, despite there being no option, unless Hein can impress once again and prove that he is worthy of being a back-up in Arteta’s side.
Nuno Tavares (£6m permanent to Lazio) – 6
Tavares did have a run in the team under Arteta when he first arrived in 2021, but three loan spells since have seen other players arrive to play ahead of him.
He did well at Lazio last term and even earned a call-up to the Portugal national team, but it was not enough to see him back into Arteta’s plans, hence the move away.
Albert Sambi Lokonga (£2.5m permanent to Hamburg) – 6
Lokonga never truly forced his way into Arteta’s first-team thinking after a 2021 move from Anderlecht, and he had not played for the club since 2022/23 prior to this exit.
Arsenal will be somewhat displeased to see such a lowly return on his services, given his potential to still be a good player at top-flight level, but he is another who they needed to get off their books.
Marquinhos (£2.5m permanent to Cruzeiro) – 7
Brazilian winger Marquinhos was never able to prove himself in the Gunners’ senior set-up, and this low-key move will not move the dial any in terms of the club’s finances or future prospects.