It’s been another busy summer in north London for our Sporting Director Edu, as he helped reshape Mikel Arteta and Jonas Eidevall's squads for the coming season.
A whole host of transfers and deals have been completed during the summer window, and to refresh your memory, we’ve recapped everything below.
Incomings
The first new face through the door for our men’s first-team was Kai Havertz, who arrived from Chelsea back in July. He was then soon followed by Ajax defender Jurrien Timber, and the next day Declan Rice was captured from West Ham United.
All three made their debuts in our Community Shield victory against Manchester City at Wembley, and then their Premier League bows came a week later against Nottingham Forest.
Just after that game saw us add David Raya to our ranks, with the Spanish international goalkeeper arriving on a season-long loan from Brentford.
There have also been some major moves in our women’s team, with the headline capture being England striker Alessia Russo, who arrived from Manchester United after the expiration of her contract, and would go on to play a major role in the Lionesses’ run to the World Cup final.
That game saw her go up against Spain’s Laia Cordina, who, following the end of the tournament, signed for us from Barcelona as the centre-back adds World Cup-winning experience to our squad.
Earlier in the summer, we also captured two other players who would represent their countries in Australia and New Zealand in the summer. Swedish defender Amanda Illestedt was recruited from Paris St Germain, while Cloe Lacasse was snapped up after scoring 102 times in 131 games for Benfica and represents Canada at international level.
We closed out a productive WSL transfer window by securing Australian midfielder Kyra Cooney-Cross on the final day. The 21-year-old joined us from Swedish club Hammarby after some eye-catching displays at the World Cup, as the Matildas reached the semi-final of the competition.
Outgoings - permanent
We saw some familiar faces depart the club, many of whom served us admirably in north London. Granit Xhaka moved on to Bayer Leverkusen after spending seven seasons with us, while Ainsley Maitland-Niles departed after his contract expired, ending a 19-year association.
He has now pitched up at Lyon, and another Hale End graduate will also ply his trade in Ligue 1 next season after Folarin Balogun moved to Monaco on a permanent deal. Two more of his new USA teammates also moved on, with Auston Trusty signing for Sheffield United and Matt Turner heading to Nottingham Forest and making his Reds bow against us on the opening day.
On transfer daedline day, Rob Holding signed for Crystal Palace. The 27-year-old defender made 162 appearances during his seven full seasons with us.
Having had a successful loan spell at Monza last season Pablo Mari joined the Serie A side permanently, and young defender Zach Awe found a new home at Southampton following his release. Also in the Football League are Matt Smith at Wigan Athletic and Mazeed Ogungbo at Barrow, while Colchester United moved for Tom Smith and Kaleel Green.
Looking further afield, Joel Ideho is now at Den Haag in the second tier of Dutch football, while Nikolaj Moller joined Swiss side St Gallen and Ben Cottrell joined Slovakian outfit Murta. George Lewis, Alexandar Kovacevic, Tino Quamina and Mathaeus Roberts also departed the club following the end of their deals.
Four players also left our women’s team. Rafaelle Souza has moved on to Orlando Pride, while Fran Stenson has found a new home at Sheffield United. Defender Anna Patten now plays for Aston Villa, while Mana Iwabuchi also departed and later announced her retirement from professional football.
Outgoings - loans
A number of our first-team squad have also made temporary moves away from Emirates Stadium. Kieran Tierney will spend the season at Real Socieded who are embarking on their first Champions League campaign in a decade, while Marquinhos headed to Ligue 1 side Nantes.
Nuno Tavares will remain in the Premier League with Nottingham Forest after moving to them for the campaign.
Alex Runarsson will be between the posts for Cardiff City in the Championship this season, while their south Wales rivals Swansea City jumped at the chance to bring in Charlie Patino. They’ll compete in the same division as Brooke Norton-Cuffy who linked up with Millwall for the campaign.
Tyreece John-Jules will aim for match action at Derby County in League One this term, while Mauro Bandiera is at Colchester United a tier down. Billy Vigar and Hubert Graczyk joined Eastbourne Borough and Slough Town in the National League South, while up in Scotland Mika Biereth marked his Motherwell debut with a goal and assist.
Outside of the UK, Catalin Cirjan joined Rapid Bucharest in his native Romania, while Salah-Eddine Oulad M'Hand will experience new challenges at Den Bosch in the Netherlands.
As for the women’s side, Freya Godfrey will get the chance to develop further at Charlton Athletic, while American shot-stopper Kaylan Marckese searches for gametime at Bristol City. Meanwhile, youngsters Michelle Agyemang, Laila Harbert and Katie Reid all joined Women’s Championship side Watford for 23/24 on a dual-registration agreement.
On transfer deadline day, Nathan Butler-Oyedeji joined League One side Cheltenham Town on a season-long loan. There were also loan moves for Henry Jeffcott to Derby County, Brian Okonkwo to Leatherhead, Omar Rekik to Wigan Athletic, Arthur Okonkwo to Wrexham and Sambi Lokonga to fellow Premier League side Luton Town.
New contracts
As well as new arrivals, we also managed to tie down a host of our players to longer-term deals.
Both of our first-team captains, Martin Odegaard and Kim Little, recommitted to the club this summer. Following on from Aaron Ramsdale and Bukayo Saka pledging their futures at the end of last season, William Saliba’s impressive performances in 2022/23 saw him rewarded with a fresh contract, while Reiss Nelson also chose to stay with us.
Back in May, Lia Walti decided to put to paper on a new contract after five seasons at the club, with Frida Maanum, Steph Catley and Caitlin Foord quickly following suit.
Most recently, our Player of the Year Katie McCabe extended her eight-year stay in north London with a new deal. Jen Beattie also opted to be a member of Eidevall’s squad again this season, as she moves into a ninth campaign with the club across two spells.
Aiming to follow in the academy graduate’s footsteps are Elian Quesada-Thorn, Josh Robinson, Jimi Gower and Ismail Oulad M'Hand, who all penned their first professional deals.
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