Arsenal’s impressive transfer strategy continues with Zinchenko signing
Suraj Radia
- 22 Jul 2022 17:03 CDT
- 3 min read
Oleksandr Zinchenko’s arrival is another step towards a youthful direction for Arsenal, as they continued their big rebuild around a talented young core.
All of Arsenal’s ten outfield signings since the beginning of last season have been no older than 25 and the Gunners had the youngest side in the Premier League in 2021/22.
The average age of their team was 25.2, a year less than the next youngest in Brentford, while Arsenal’s European rivals all have substantially older squads.
Manchester United, Liverpool and Chelsea all had an average age of over 28, with West Ham being having the oldest team in the top seven at 28.9 years old.
Tottenham and Manchester City were slightly younger at 27.3 and 27.8 years old respectively but no team came close to Arsenal’s team of youthful stars.
With Mikel Arteta also being the youngest manager in the league aged 40, Arsenal’s long-term planning could end up paying dividends as their team continues to blossom.
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The Gunners made a conscious shift towards a younger squad, with the likes of Alexandre Lacazette, Willian, David Luiz and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, all in their 30s, leaving in the past two years.
Last summer, Arsenal spent around £150 million on players but the oldest arrival out of seven players was Ben White from Brighton at just 23 years old.
This year, Arteta’s side have once again looked towards the younger end of the market for their targets although Zinchenko and fellow City arrival Gabriel Jesus are perhaps more senior at 25 years old.
The policy of both Arteta and technical director Edu appears to be looking to sign players with their best years ahead of them, having previously been crippled by long-term contracts to ageing stars.
Every outfield Arsenal signing since the start of last season has been aged-25 or under when joining the club:
◎ 2021/22
23 - White
22 - Ødegaard
23 - Trusty
22 - Tomiyasu
21 - Tavares
21 - Lokonga
◉ 2022/23
25 - Jesus
25 - Zinchenko
22 - Vieira
19 - Marquinhos https://t.co/lJwNUjAtHu— Squawka (@Squawka) July 22, 2022
While the Gunners have sometimes shown signs of immaturity and naivety on the pitch, the progress of players like Emile Smith-Rowe, Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli has given fans something to believe in.
The signings of proven winners in Jesus and Zinchenko have brought in a combination of experience at the highest level as well as tying down elite internationals in the prime of their careers.
It is no coincidence that Arteta is also the youngest manager in the Premier League at 40 and Arsenal will hope that their youthful core will take another step up next season, having just posted their highest points total in three years.
Having just posted their highest points total in the past three seasons, Arsenal will be hoping their youthful core will take another step up this year and lead them into the Champions League.
