Arsenal are heading into the upcoming Premier League season as champions for the first time in 22 years, but Mikel Arteta isn’t going to rest now.

Having fallen to PSG on penalties in the Champions League final, the Gunners’ priority this summer is closing the gap on Europe’s elite, and that means reinforcing a squad that has already been crowned as the best in England.

With the left wing and the midfield identified as areas for investment, here’s what Arsenal’s best possible starting XI could look like if their top transfer targets arrive at the Emirates Stadium.

Goalkeeper

David Raya

David Raya remains an easy pick between the sticks. The Spaniard has been one of the signings of the Arteta era, with his sharp reflexes and his composed distribution making him an extra outfielder during build-up.

Although his signing looked strange at the time, considering Aaron Ramsdale’s impressive season, the former Brentford keeper has excelled in his position.

The Gunners may be wanting a new back-up keeper, with Illan Meslier set to complete a move to north London, but Raya has that number one position locked down.

Defence

Timber, Saliba, Gabriel, Hincapie

The two central defenders pick themselves, with William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhaes continuing to form one of the most reliable partnerships in Europe. Both were instrumental in the title charge, and there is no desire at the club to break up a pairing that reads the game so well together.

Jurrien Timber has been immense at right-back, and you would assume he gets the nod for his versatility and progressive passing, especially when he gives Arsenal an extra body in midfield by tucking inside. Piero Hincapie also had a strong first season at the Emirates, and his loan move has now been made permanent after a clause was activated following the Ecuadorian defender making 39 appearances. He looks set to be a mainstay for many years.

It is also worth noting the depth Arsenal have in this department, leaving no real need to use their budget in this area. With players like Ricardo Califiori, Ben White, Myles Lewis-Skelly, Cristhian Mosquera all sat on the bench, the Gunners have real depth that should be enough for them to continue their progression.

Midfield

Rice, Guimaraes, Odegaard

via Reuters

This is the area where there are rumours of Arsenal wanting to strengthen. If the rumours are true, then they could have a midfield that will dominate for years to come.

Declan Rice remains the engine of the side, a box-to-box presence who still stepped up in some big moments to provide goals and assists. However, he played a lot of minutes last season, and Arteta could do with bringing in a backup to give Rice a rest when possible.

The North London side did have rumoured interest in Italian Sandro Tonali, but he has since made a £100million move to rivals Tottenham, and Arsenal look to have shifted their focus to a different Newcastle midfielder in Bruno Guimaraes. He has been linked with a move to the Emirates, and his blend of ball-carrying, tackling and composure in possession would slot seamlessly into the midfield alongside Rice.

Martin Zubimendi joined last season and had an underrated season and could look to push for a more prominent starting role in the side, but he faces a tough challenge against Rice and potentially Guimaraes.

Martin Odegaard has been linked with a move away from Arsenal, with rumoured interest from Turkish side Galatasaray, but the Norwegian doesn’t look to be in a rush to leave the Emirates.

Attack

Saka, Gyokeres, Rogers

When fit, Bukayo Saka is a guaranteed starter for Mikel Arteta. He had a tough, injury-ridden season last year, but he will be a certain figure if he can stay sharp. Viktor Gyokeres enjoyed an outstanding debut season following his transfer from Sporting Lisbon, offering the kind of physical, direct centre-forward presence Arsenal had lacked for years, and there isn’t any reason to think he won’t be leading the line once again this season.

The most eye-catching addition would come on the left, where Arsenal have made Morgan Rogers their priority target. The Aston Villa forward has been reportedly valued at around £130million and has attracted interest from a host of major clubs, but Arsenal are serious contenders given Villa’s need to balance the books this summer.

Rogers’ ability to drift inside, combine centrally and carry the ball through the thirds would give Arteta an upgrade on the left wing, especially with uncertainty around Gabriel Martinelli’s future as he enters the final year of his contract. Should Rogers arrive, he’d complete a front three with balance and unpredictability to trouble any defence in Europe, whilst there would still be strong depth in Eberechi Eze.

There are moments in football so strange and unresolved that they seem to belong to fiction more than fact. The evening of July 12, 1998, at Stade de France is one of them.

A 21-year-old world star had arrived in Paris that summer not merely as a footballer, but a phenomenon — the most exciting player on the planet; he was inevitable, unstoppable. He had set the world alight with his talent, and it looked like the stage was set for him once again to take all the glory and cement his place on the throne of world football.

Brazil arrived in France ’98 as defending champions and clear favourites. With manager Mario Zagallo at the helm, a man who had been involved as player, coach or assistant in all four of Brazil’s previous World Cup wins, the Selecao carried the full weight of expectation. Yet the tournament wasn’t really about the team. It was about one man.

Ronaldo had spent the past two years laying the foundations of his legacy. After 47 goals in 49 appearances for Barcelona, he made a record-breaking move to Inter Milan and continued his domination. He was unstoppable in the air, devastating with the ball at his feet, terrifying at pace. He had won back-to-back FIFA World Player of the Year awards. French defender Marcel Desailly said: “Ronaldo was fantastic, a magician. We were all speechless when he touched the ball. The entire stadium held its breath. It was the first time I saw that.”

France ’98 was supposed to be his coronation, not that he needed one. He lit up the tournament with a brace against Chile and a goal in the semi-final against the Netherlands. Brazil booked their place in the final, and they were without doubt the favourites.

What Happened to Ronaldo In the 1998 World Cup Final?

Stuart Franklin / Action Images via REUTERS

The squad had lunch in their team hotel on the day of the final. Players returned to their rooms; everything seemed normal, like the big game later on in the evening would be a routine win. But, what happened next would send shock waves not just through the camp, but eventually through the entire footballing world.

Ronaldo collapsed in his room. Roberto Carlos had witnessed what followed: convulsions, foam at his mouth, the terrifying spectacle of his body in seizure. Team doctor Lidio Toledo was called immediately, and the room quickly filled with teammates and medical staff. Some players later recalled that Toledo wept when he arrived, although he later disputed this.

Toledo did, however, confirm the scene was severe; Ronaldo was breathing heavily, saliva collected around his mouth and he was momentarily unresponsive. Per a report in the Guardian, Roberto Carlos said:

He was rushed to the hospital for tests, and at 5pm, Zagallo had made the tough call: Edmundo would start the final. Ronaldo was out.

At 7:48pm, around one hour before kick-off, the official team sheet was submitted to FIFA. It all looked normal until the FIFA delegates read to the bottom of the list and realised there was no Ronaldo. When the news broke, confusion swept the stadium. Where was Ronaldo? John Motson had been commentating on the game for the BBC, and he was bewildered. He told CNN Sport:

Action Images / Stuart Franklin via REUTERS

But then came the twist. Ronaldo himself, having recovered from hospital tests and been told he wouldn’t play, refused to accept it. He went to Zagallo and the medical team, insisting he was fit. He begged to play. And who could say no to the best player in the world? He was back on the team sheet within an hour.

Ronaldo has since given his own account of waking up surrounded by teammates, not knowing where he was. He told FourFourTwo: “I decided to get some rest after lunch, and the last thing I remember was going to bed. After that, I had a convulsion. I was surrounded by players and the Dr Toledo was there. They didn’t want to tell me what was going on.

“I asked if they could leave and go talk somewhere else because I wanted to sleep. Then Leonardo asked me to go for a walk in the hotel and explained the whole situation. I was told that I wouldn’t play in the final.”

The Aftermath

Brazil lost 3-0. It was their heaviest World Cup defeat in 68 years. Zinedine Zidane scored twice in the first half with headers from corners. Emmanuel Petit added a third in injury time. The contest was never close. Ronaldo lasted the full 90 minutes but was a shade of himself, sluggish, disconnected from the player who had tormented defences all summer. He had one meaningful shot, straight at Barthez.

The fallout was enormous. Zagallo lost his job, and team doctors followed him out the door. And the mystery didn’t die quietly. A Brazilian parliamentary inquiry was launched. An investigation attempted to establish what had actually happened. Various theories surfaced: that Ronaldo had been given an injection of lidocaine, a local anaesthetic, for a recurring knee injury, and that it may have been administered incorrectly, causing the striker to have a reaction.

Others pointed to Ronaldo’s state of mind, suggesting a nervous breakdown brought on by the suffocating pressure of carrying an entire nation. It was also suggested that it was in the commercial interest of Nike, who had signed a huge deal with the Brazilian federation, for Ronaldo to start. Edmundo, who had been replaced when Ronaldo returned, said: “Nike’s people were there 24 hours a day, as if they were part of the technical staff. It’s a huge power.” Ronaldo himself has deflected the theories, maintaining that he was fit to play.

Action Images / Darren Walsh Digital via REUTERS

It wouldn’t put a dampener on his career for too long, as the striker returned to glory in 2002. Fighting knee injuries, missing the entire qualifying campaign. Ronaldo turned up to the 2002 World Cup with a unique haircut and a point to prove. He finished the tournament as top scorer, taking the golden boot and the World Cup trophy home, winning everything that fate had conspired to take from him in Paris four years earlier.

O Fenomeno had his redemption – and so did Brazil.

A football finance expert has provided a fresh update as the wait for a verdict on Manchester City’s alleged breaches of Financial Fair Play (FFP) rules continues.

City were initially charged with 115 alleged breaches of FFP back in February 2023. That number increased to 130 and a hearing into the charges against the Premier League side concluded in 2024.

The charges relate to the:

• alleged failure to provide accurate financial information, including details for player and manager payments, from 2009-10 to 2017-18 seasons
• alleged failure to comply with UEFA’s Financial Fair Play (FFP) rules from 2013-14 to 2017-18
• alleged breaches of Premier League’s profitability and sustainability rules (PSR) from 2015-16 to 2017-18.

City also face multiple charges accusing them of failing to co-operate with the Premier League’s investigation between December 2018 and February 2023.

Wait For Verdict Goes On

It was rumoured in May that a verdict was set to ‘arrive within weeks’, but there’s still no sign of an imminent verdict two months’ later.

Indeed, Man City broke the British transfer record on July 2 after signing England international Elliot Anderson from Nottingham Forest in a deal worth £116 million.

Asked if it’s fair that City have signed Anderson despite the charges hanging over them, football finance expert Stefan Borson told talkSPORT: “Well, it’s fair because what do you want City to do? To stop everything whilst the whole case was ongoing?

“The case has been ongoing for many years. It’s not acceptable, but there’s no decision in the case.

“The last I heard was probably the end of June and there didn’t seem to have been a decision.

“It may have come since, but even so 19, 20 months, we are now at the edges of whatever happens in any of these cases.”

Verdict Could Still Be Several Months Away

Borson says it could still take several months before a decision is announced, with arbitration cases lasting up to 24 months in some instances.

He continued: “I spoke to a KC (King’s Counsel) recently and said, ‘have all your cases, all your litigation, courts of appeal, wherever, what’s the longest you’ve waited for a decision?’

“And he said, ‘five months’ and even that he had contact with the judges being in touch with him. Arbitration is different and some arbitration does go to 24 months.

“But it does put the judgement when it comes in a territory where if it goes against one of the parties, they may well say, ‘look, this is just unsafe now. This has just been too long. You’re not close enough to the evidence that you heard two years ago, nearly, to be able to conclude fairly on this case.’

“So it just opens up another issue for the panel. That’s obviously a very difficult appeal to win, but it’s the sort of thing that people are going to run these silly arguments or these challenging arguments if the case goes against them.

Man City, who won three of their eight Premier League titles during the period when the alleged breaches occurred, now prepare to begin the post-Pep Guardiola era under their new manager Enzo Maresca.

City begin the 2026-27 campaign with a clash against Arsenal in the Community Shield on August 16 before their opening Premier League fixture against Bournemouth one week later.