In time honoured fashion, with the new season days away, I have decided to look at three players for whom 2025-26 has an element of make or break to it.
Martin Odegaard
After being voted the player of the season by supporters in 2022-23 and 2023-24, there is no doubt that 2024-25 fell well below the standards to which we have become accustomed from the captain. I think the standards he set prior to last season mean the gravity of his underperformance has been exaggerated.
I think he was largely fine. But he has been significantly better than ‘fine’ since signing for the club in 2021 and when excellent becomes average it really does stick out and it is right that there was plenty of commentary on this during last season. I think most fans accept there are caveats and explanations for a below par campaign. For now.
The Norwegian was injured on international duty in September and never looked the same after returning in November. I suspect some of this was because a lack of depth in his position and his attributes meant he was rushed back and had basically no respite from return to the end of the season.
Injuries around him would also have taken their toll. Ben White- another player who returned physically from injury last season but didn’t quite hit his usual standards- and Bukayo Saka were missing for long periods, breaking up that crucial right-sided triangle. Kai Havertz and Gabriel Jesus also missed most of the second half of the season, which meant Odegaard was trying to fashion chances for a central midfielder playing upfront.
Odegaard has enough credit in the bank that there was a fair amount of speculation that his ankle might have been troubling him for several months after his return. However, I think it is totally fair that all these caveats and explanations expire for this season and if he is not up to his usual standards again this time around, we might well have a problem. I am sure he knows this too, especially with the likes of Nwaneri (who started three pre-season games in Odegaard’s position) and Max Dowman coming up behind him.
Arsenal fans are excited about the changes they’re making on the ball this season… but I think they should be excited about the changes they’re making off it too. I think they could ramp up their press again which will only benefit their new signings. https://t.co/bT9XY3Eat6
— Jon Mackenzie (@Jon_Mackenzie) August 14, 2025
Gabriel Martinelli
If Odegaard still has some credit in the bank after one season slightly off the boil, Gabriel Martinelli is edging towards his overdraft after a pair of underwhelming seasons compared to the standards he set in 2022-23. Again, I think there are some caveats, such as the constant switches of left-back, the fact that he hasn’t always meshed brilliantly with Declan Rice as a left eight and misses the interchange with compatriot Gabriel Jesus.
However, we are now at the stage where this is the team and if he cannot mesh with the system or the players in it, then he simply can’t play in it. My personal opinion is that his decline from 2022-23 aligns relatively neatly with the absence of Gabriel Jesus. Jesus liked to drift over to the left and that allowed a sense of chaos and interchange that is no longer present on Arsenal’s left side.
I don’t think Martinelli has ever forged the same relationship with Kai Havertz as a centre-forward but Kai Havertz isn’t going anywhere (and nor should he). I think there is a chance that the presence of Viktor Gyokeres ekes some better form out of Martinelli and sees him isolated against two defenders far less often.
But the signals from the club are that they have been looking for other options in this area for a while now. They tried to sign Mudryk in January 2023, there is current talk of interest in Eze and Noni Madueke has played exclusively on the left wing in pre-season.
I suspect that had Bayern Munich shown interest in Martinelli as opposed to Luis Diaz then the club would have entertained an offer, it’s really only Leandro Trossard’s age that makes him a more rational sale than Martinelli at this stage. Next summer the Brazilian will have two years left on his contract (one year with an option for a further one) and that really is ‘sign him up or sell him on’ time. His performance this season will dictate which one of those options Arsenal choose.
Ethan Nwaneri
Obviously next season is not ‘make or break’ for Ethan given his youth. It is a big season for him, however. Last summer, Arsenal moved Emile Smith Rowe and Fabio Vieira on without replacement, in part to create a path for Nwaneri. As it turned out, injuries to Odegaard and Saka meant he was exposed to very regular minutes earlier than planned.
I am sure the plan would have been to ease him in more slowly, use him as an impact sub and play him in the cup games. Circumstances dictated that he became one of Arsenal’s most important attackers for a period in the late winter, which is remarkable for a player who was 17 at that point.
The emergence of Max Dowman makes Nwaneri a grizzled veteran in comparison. Clearly there should not be the sort of pressure on Nwaneri that Odegaard and Martinelli are under this season. This summer, the talk of signing Ebere Eze died down the instant Nwaneri put pen to paper. Arsenal have shown trust in Ethan (which his talent and his performances at such a young age warrant).
With the new contract in his back pocket, the target is to continue improving and realise his undoubted potential. There was a lot of suggestion that the promise of him playing more centrally was key to him committing his future to the club and I think that was part of the reason we saw him start three of Arsenal’s five pre-season friendlies in the right eight role.
I think, first and foremost, it was part of the dance of negotiation to get him to sign. I also think pre-season gave him the chance to learn in the position in a relatively consequence free environment. With Madueke on board, Arsenal also finally have dedicated cover for Saka on the right-wing.
That means that, essentially, there is really only one role up for grabs for Nwaneri and it’s the captain’s. Don’t get me wrong; I think Nwaneri will get plenty of minutes and last season we saw the impact of over reliance on individual players. Last season also showed that injuries do occur.
Maybe we also saw last season that, if Nwaneri is going to break into the starting eleven, Odegaard’s role, while, in my view by no means up for grabs, is probably still a slightly better route for him than Saka’s. There is less competition there and Saka’s form has yet to suffer in the way Odegaard’s did last season.
Arteta and Arsenal have shown a lot of faith in Nwaneri, they have cleared players out of the way and not signed others to help beat a path for him. They have done that, not out of the goodness of their hearts, but because they appreciate his quality. I think that’s the right decision, over to Nwaneri to continue his development and prove it.
