Arsenal Transfer News: Gunners can learn from Liverpool errors to mount title defence next season

Arsenal finally ended their 22-year title drought last season – but the Gunners’ first Premier League triumph in a generation has had consequences.

Mikel Arteta’s men poured everything into getting over the line in 2025/26, suffering a host of injuries along the way and exhausting some of their biggest stars ahead of the World Cup.

Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka looked some way short of peak fitness during England’s run to the semi-finals, for example, while Ben White and Jurriën Timber didn’t even make it to the United States, Mexico and Canada.

While the fortunes of England and the Netherlands may be of little concern to some of an Arsenal persuasion, there will undoubtedly be concern that the rigours of last term could impact the upcoming campaign.

After all, the North Londoners’ have already been dealt a blow, following the news that William Saliba is set to be out for up to five months after injuring his back in France’s defeat to Spain.

And there is precedent for a difficult post-title season scuppered by injuries, with Liverpool succumbing to that fate back in 2020/21.

Will the Gunners face similar challenges when domestic football gets back underway next month?

A gruelling campaign

There can be little doubting the physical demands of competing across multiple fronts in any given season.

That is especially true for Arsenal, who had to combine a mentally draining title race with runs to both the Champions League and League Cup finals.

Arteta’s outfit also reached the FA Cup quarter-final, meaning they played a grand total of 59 matches – enough to strain any squad, regardless of the Gunners’ impressive depth.

Kai Havertz missed a total of 35 games, for example, primarily because of a knee injury he suffered in mid-August.

Meanwhile, Martin Ødegaard endured seven separate absences – also mainly linked to an early season knee injury – that amounted to 137 days on the sidelines.

The list doesn’t end there, either. Mikel Merino missed 115 days while having foot surgery, Timber was unavailable for 11 matches because of ankle injuries and Saka had a pair of month-long absences.

With Riccardo Calafiori having three separate periods out of action, too, it is obvious that Arsenal’s remaining fit players were often pushed to the limits to keep their campaign on track.

That has clearly had an impact on the World Cup for Rice, Saka and Saliba – the question is whether they can avoid any damage extending into next season.

Liverpool’s cautionary tale

Arsenal will be looking to avoid the drop-off that Liverpool struggled with in 2020/21.

There are certainly some parallels, with the Reds having just secured their first title for 30 years after putting a remarkable 99 points on the board.

But manager Jürgen Klopp couldn’t sustain that form the following year, when a weak title defence saw champions Manchester City finish 17 points and two places above the Merseysiders.

The crux of Liverpool’s struggles was their failure to significantly strengthen their rearguard in the summer of 2020, despite adding Konstantinos Tsimikas as cover for left-back Andy Robertson.

Diogo Jota and Thiago Alcántara were recruited in more advanced positions, but the duo proved to be injury-prone that season – missing a total of 42 games in all competitions between them.

However, centre-back was where the real issues lay. Virgil van Dijk (45 matches), Joe Gomez (39 matches) and Joël Matip (27 matches) were consistently unavailable, resulting in a situation where midfielders Jordan Henderson and Fabinho often had to deputise in central defence.

That solution was rather unsuccessful, as the Reds leaked nine more goals than the previous year (42) while also losing six more league matches.

Their difficulties also extended to the cup competitions, with Klopp’s team exiting both the FA Cup and League Cup in the fourth rounds, before losing a Champions League quarter-final tie to Real Madrid (3-1 on aggregate).

A big summer ahead

So how do Arsenal avoid a similar fate to Liverpool when it comes to defending their title?

Well, going big on recruitment from a position of strength appears to be the key – though not to the point of destabilising the team’s structure, as we saw from Arne Slot’s Reds last term.

There needs to be an understanding from Arteta and Arsenal’s board that the squad’s resilience may be lesser than during the previous season, such is the unrelenting nature of elite football in a World Cup year.

That will be driven by the club’s medical and sports science teams, of course, but fundamentally a greater available pool of first-team ready players is crucial to reducing the burden on Arsenal’s current top performers.

Fortunately, strong links to the likes of Bruno Guimarães (Newcastle United), Julián Alvarez (Atlético Madrid) and Christos Tzolis (Club Brugge) suggest they are unlikely to rest on their laurels in the transfer market.

Saliba’s long-term injury may also necessitate a defensive signing – and the Gunners do at least have plenty of time left in the transfer window to source a replacement.

Arsenal’s title defence could also be helped by the fact that each of their rivals are in a period of transition, with Manchester City, Liverpool and Chelsea all appointing new managers ahead of 2026/27.

Michael Carrick is entering his first year as permanent Manchester United boss, too, suggesting that none of England’s other biggest clubs will be the finished product next season.

While Klopp had to deal with Pep Guardiola’s resurgent Citizens after claiming Liverpool’s first title since 1990, Arsenal are likely to have a little more room for error this time around.