Analysing the squad depth that has underpinned Arsenal’s dream start to 2025-26

This week was meant to test Arsenal. It still could, as they face in-form Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Sunday, but Mikel Arteta’s team have passed their first two exams in it with flying colours.

Their north London derby win on Sunday was all about the starters, but the squad’s difference-makers came from the bench against Bayern Munich three days later.

An attacker coming off injured in the first half would have been cause for concern in seasons gone by, especially one in the form Leandro Trossard has been showing, but Arteta now has the options he has craved for some time.

Noni Madueke initially replaced Trossard on the left, before being found on the right by fellow substitute Riccardo Calafiori to put Arsenal 2-1 up. Gabriel Martinelli, who Arteta voluntarily replaced Bukayo Saka with, then wrapped up the victory with a type of goal that is becoming customary in the Champions League, as his run into an empty Bayern half was found by Eberechi Eze.

The momentum of the game was already swinging Arsenal’s way, but these changes were a testament to the squad they have built.

Much of the focus on that process will be on this summer’s transfer windows, when they have signed eight players, but it goes beyond that.

Throughout Arteta’s time in the Arsenal job, particularly in the past four years, the club have recruited to raise the ceiling of the squad not just the starting XI. Over time, that constant improvement has meant the floor of the player pool at the Emirates Stadium has also risen to a point where once-marquee signings such as Ben White are now rotational options or have been moved on from, as has happened with Oleksandr Zinchenko.

Arsenal are not using as many players as other Premier League clubs — they rank ninth among the 20 for players deployed in all competitions this season — but have more quality options than before.

Trossard and Mikel Merino began the current campaign as squad options but have made invaluable contributions over the past two months.

Indeed, Trossard was not even in the 20-strong matchday squad for the opening game of the season away to Manchester United in August, but will undoubtedly be missed if the first-half injury he suffered against Bayern is at all serious.

The Belgium international’s first major contributions of this season didn’t come until the opening Champions League game, away to Athletic Club in the Spanish city of Bilbao, on September 16. He and Martinelli came off the bench that night to both score and assist each other in a 2-0 win. Five days later, summer signing Eze was sent on at home against Manchester City and created Martinelli’s late equaliser in a 1-1 draw. A further week on, Merino scored and Martin Odegaard assisted off the bench to complete a 2-1 comeback win at Newcastle.

Their substitutes making a difference so often now means Arsenal are giving the club record for goal contributions by players coming off the bench in a single season under Arteta (26, in 2023-24) a run for its money.

In the Champions League, they rank fourth for goal contributions by substitutes since the start of the 2023-24 season (16), only two behind Atletico Madrid in top spot.

Of course, scoring and assisting goals is not the only way to make a difference in a game of football.

Arsenal have been without centre-back Gabriel in their past two matches because of injury, and will continue to be for the foreseeable future, but both Piero Hincapie and Cristhian Mosquera have stepped up.

Mosquera, another newcomer this summer, has filled in for both Gabriel and William Saliba and currently stands as Arsenal’s 13th most-used player this season, with 695 minutes of game time in all competitions. Trossard is quite literally Arsenal’s 12th man in this regard, with 945 minutes of action.

Hincapie, a deadline-day loan signing in September, is Arteta’s fifth least-used player so far, on 257 minutes.

That is mostly due to the Ecuador international’s late arrival in the summer and the need to manage his game-time for club and country, but he too proved himself just as capable of deputising at centre-back in the north London derby. The ease with which the 23-year-old pushed forward to defend in high areas, nullifying any Tottenham attacks before they had truly started, was particularly impressive.

Just ahead of Hincapie for share of minutes across the season are Ethan Nwaneri (433 minutes), Madueke (459), Martinelli (505) and Myles Lewis-Skelly (538).

This quartet have played just over a quarter of the minutes available, and have all impressed in spells.

Martinelli has scored five goals and assisted one (four of these have been in the Champions League), Madueke provided much-needed cover when Saka was injured in August and missed several weeks, before scoring on Wednesday as he made his own return from a lengthier spell on the sidelines — as Nwaneri did for Odegaard early in the season before finding the net in a Carabao Cup start against Brighton last month. As for Lewis-Skelly, Michael Olise of Bayern may have given him a tough time the other night, but he has been largely consistent when stepping in for Calafiori.

The crazy thing is that all this marvelling at Arsenal’s depth has come without them having a fully-fit squad at any point yet this season. Kai Havertz hasn’t played since picking up a knee problem in that opening win at Old Trafford, Odegaard has had three separate issues (two to his shoulder, one concerning his knee) and Gabriel Jesus is still on the mend following his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) knee injury in January.

Odegaard made his latest return against Bayern, and Jesus has been in full training for a couple of weeks, so Arteta is getting closer to having everybody available.

That is when the real selection dilemmas will come into play.

For instance, while he is a supreme footballing talent, Eze has benefited from Odegaard’s absence in the No 10 role. That is not to knock either player, as both have earned Arsenal crucial points this season, but now is the time for Arteta to see how they can co-exist, or if there are other setups he wants to try. Similar thoughts will need to be had in the striking department, as well as out wide, when everyone is back, but this is what Arteta wanted, and in many cases, needed.

His Arsenal have been one of the most consistent teams in Europe for three-and-a-half years now, but were always held back by something. As last season drew to a close, Arteta repeatedly spoke about the need for availability across his squad, and so far in this one he seems to have found it, in spite of a cluster of injuries.

November is not when trophies are won, but having these options waiting in the wings and ready to contribute can build the momentum that is necessary to get over the line when there is silverware at stake come the spring.