The Gryphon Gazette

By Rikhav S. ‘26

Off the back of Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal’s strong 2023/24 campaign, it is time to predict their season outcome for 2024/25. 2023/24 (although it came to a bittersweet ending) marked an impressive season for the Gunners, as Arsenal finished 2nd in the Premier League and reached the quarterfinals of the Champions League. However, for this current 2024/25 season, Arsenal must do even better to continue their upward trajectory, which many fans believe will see them become a European soccer powerhouse for many years to come. With a decent amount of games already played in the current season, let’s use what we have seen from Arsenal so far in order to make a prediction on how the rest of this campaign will pan out for the club in terms of both the Premier League and the Champions League.

Summer 2024 

First, however, it is important to look at Arsenal’s summer business. Arsenal’s first piece of business during the summer transfer window saw them complete the 27-million-pound permanent signing of star goalkeeper David Raya, who was previously on a season-long loan from Brentford. This deal was a no-brainer for Arsenal, as David Raya clearly cemented himself as Arsenal’s starting goalkeeper, displacing fan favorite Aaron Ramsdale only four games into the Premier League season. Since joining Arsenal on loan, Raya has become regarded as one of the best keepers in the world, winning the Premier League Golden Glove award for keeping the most clean sheets last season. This season, Raya has given more reason to be held in such high regard, as he has made simply outstanding saves in countless instances, shown great distribution skills, and dominated his box well with incredible claiming of crosses. 

The next player brought into the club during the summer was Bologna defender Riccardo Calafiori for £42 million. Calafiori was brought in to improve an already strong Arsenal defense which is often regarded as the best in the world. The Italian adds a whole new dimension to Arsenal with his unique skill set that includes great dribbling as well as his ability to drive up the field and make passes. So while being a great defender, Calafiori’s signing also benefits Arsenal’s attack due to his wide range of skills. 

Arsenal’s next summer signing was a 32 million pound deal for Real Sociedad’s Spanish midfielder, Mikel Merino. Merino was signed, along with Calafiori, in hopes of bringing stability to Arsenal’s left-hand side. The Spanish midfielder is a duel-winning machine, as he won the most duels in all of Europe’s top five leagues during the 2023/24 season. He is also an aerial threat in the opposing team’s box, and his ability to score off of headers can be seen in his 119th-minute winner against Germany in the Euro 2024 quarterfinal. He will undoubtedly be a great addition to Arsenal, a team that hopes to achieve great things this season. Arsenal then closed out the summer window by signing Bournemouth’s Brazilian goalkeeper Neto, as well as Chelsea’s English winger Raheem Sterling, both on season-long loans.

As for some notable summer outgoings, Arsenal lost Emile Smith Rowe, Eddie Nketiah, and Aaron Ramsdale on permanent deals to Fulham, Crystal Palace, and Southampton, respectively. While these players were pretty good for Arsenal and fan-favorites, they did not see enough gametime and were not fully trusted by manager Mikel Arteta, so making a move away was a smart decision for both parties. Additionally, Arsenal loaned out some notable players like Reiss Nelson (to Fulham) and Fabio Vieira (to Porto). Arsenal loaned both players out with the hope that they can show some real development in their careers, especially in the case of Vieira, who was signed for around £34m in June 2022. Arsenal hopes that after a year back in Portugal, Vieira can come back to North London ready to make a positive impact on the squad. The rest of Arsenal’s outgoing players consists of Mohamed Elneny, Cedric Soares, Arthur Okonkwo, Albert Sambi Lokonga, Nuno Tavares, and Karl Hein. 

Great start to the 2024/25 campaign

Arsenal’s opening games of the Premier League season have really told us fans a lot about where they could finish come the end of the campaign. At this point in their campaign, Arsenal are 3rd place in the Premier League after seven games. Their five wins and two draws gives them a total of 17 points, placing them behind Liverpool and behind Man City on goals scored. Given the fact that Arsenal have had a tough set of opening fixtures (consisting of teams like Aston Villa (away), Brighton (home), Tottenham (away), Manchester City (away), for example), have had to deal with injuries to key players (like captain Martin Ødegaard and new signing Mikel Merino, just to name a few), and have been on the wrong end of some undeserving red cards (against Brighton and Man City), I am very impressed with the team’s current Premier League position. 

In the Champions League, Arsenal drew 0-0 at Atalanta and won 2-0 against PSG, with goals from Kai Havertz and Bukayo Saka. While two wins would have been nice, these two results still put Arsenal in a good spot to advance to the knockout stage of the European tournament. In domestic cups, Arsenal have played one match so far, winning 5-1 against Bolton, with many youngsters like Ethan Nwaneri and Myles Lewis-Skelly starring in the lineup. 

From these opening games, I have learned a lot of things that are good indicators of how Arsenal’s season will shape up. One thing I have learned is that Arsenal’s attack is firing and looking very strong. Kai Havertz is continuing to prove his critics wrong, leading Arsenal in goals, and having scored seven straight matches at home. Bukayo Saka has proven himself to be a world-class player and possibly the best right-winger in the world, leading Europe’s top five leagues in assists, with a real chance at breaking the Premier League assist record. As for Arsenal’s left side of attack, Leandro Trossard is as deadly in the box as always, scoring many important goals. Additionally, Gabriel Martinelli looks revitalized thanks to Arsenal’s left hand side signings of Riccardo Calafiori and Mikel Merino. Another learning from these games is that Arsenal’s midfield has so much talent and versatility, and can do a great job in so many different types of games. With regard to Arsenal’s defense, it is simply the best in the world. David Raya looks like the best goalkeeper in the Premier League, and Arsenal’s center back pairing of William Saliba and Gabriel is the best in the whole world. Arsenal also have insane depth at the fullback positions, so they can rotate when needed without a falloff in performance and quality. Possibly the most exciting learning so far this season is that Arsenal have some real gems in their academy, with Ethan Nwaneri and Myles Lewis-Skelly earning the trust of Mikel Arteta.

Final Predictions

With all that being said, Arsenal are simply ready to achieve big things this year and for years to come. They have been knocking on the door for the past two seasons, and now is the time for Mikel Arteta’s side to break through. Below are my predictions for Arsenal’s 2024/25 Premier League and Champions League campaigns:  

Premier League: Champions (1st Place)

Champions League: Champions