He might not have the big trophies just yet, but Mikel Arteta has already achieved a lot at Arsenal.
He has taken a club that was spiralling into competitive irrelevance and turned them into serious contenders for the Premier League and Champions League.
Furthermore, on several occasions, he has helped revitalise the careers of players most considered to be done at the very highest level.
He has done the same this year, with someone who only last year received some particularly scathing criticism.
The best career revivals at Arsenal
When it comes to redemption stories at Arsenal, the one everyone will think of first, and rightly so, is Granit Xhaka’s.
First Impressions
What did pundits and fans alike think about their new star signing when they arrived? Football FanCast’s ‘First Impressions’ series has everything you need.
The Swiss international famously fell foul of the Emirates faithful in late 2019 when, as he was being jeered, he threw the armband and his shirt to the floor while swearing at the supporters.
At the time, it looked like his time in N5 was up, and were it not for the Spaniard, it probably would have been.
The midfielder would later tell the press that “my suitcases were packed, but I had a meeting with Mikel when he came” and that “he [Arteta] is the reason why I’m still at this football club.”
Over the next few years, the passionate international would slowly win the fans back onside, and by the time his final game came at the end of the 22/23 season, the entire Emirates was singing his name, and seemed desperate for him to stay.
Another player whose career has been revived in N5 is Kai Havertz.
The German wasn’t taken particularly seriously when he made his surprise move to the club in 2023, and the fact that he struggled to have an impact in the first half of that season certainly didn’t help.
In fact, just a month into the campaign, former professional Gabby Agbonlahor described the former Bayer Leverkusen man as a “joke.”
However, a move up front completely changed the game for the struggling player, and in 18 starts as a centre-forward, the “magnificent” ace, as dubbed by talent scout Jacek Kulig, scored eight goals and provided seven assists, meaning he averaged a goal involvement every 1.20 games.
Starts
32
18
Goals
6
8
Assists
0
7
Goal Involvements per Match
0.18
0.83
Then last season, despite being ruled out halfway through, he still managed to score 15 goals and provide five assists in 36 games.
In all, Havertz might not be Arsenal’s best player, but his revival under Arteta is undeniably impressive, and now another player previously written off is starting to show his best form again this season.
The Arsenal star who is now undroppable
The good news for Arsenal is that there are more than a handful of players who are currently undroppable, although few would have expected Leandro Trossard to be among them at the start of the season.
Now, the £90k-per-week Belgian is an undeniably talented player, but it would be fair to say that he underwhelmed last season.
While it took him just 46 games to produce 20 goal involvements the previous year, it took 56 games to produce the same number last season.
Moreover, the former Brighton & Hove Albion star was simply having less of an impact on games, unless, of course, you include the red card he picked up against Manchester City, for which Jamie Carragher and Gary Neville blasted him. The latter notably labelled the situation as “ridiculous.”
The 30-year-old was such a disappointment that by the end of the season, fans seemed alright with moving him on to sign someone more dynamic, and based on reports, it looked like that might have been the club’s plan.
However, such a move never transpired, and fans should be delighted about that, as so far this season, he has been utterly superb.
For example, in just 14 appearances, totalling 832 minutes, the Waterschei-born “little magician,” as dubbed by Arteta, has scored four goals and provided four assists.
In other words, he is averaging a goal involvement every 1.75 games, or every 104 minutes, which is a rate of return not even Bukay Saka can match at the moment.
It’s not just his raw numbers that have improved, though; he is also having far more of an influence in games.
For example, while his thunderous effort against Sunderland caught everyone’s attention, he played brilliantly throughout.
Ultimately, it’s early in the season, but as things stand, Trossard is utterly undroppable and looks like another player Arteta has revived.
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