To be heralded as Arsenal’s signing of the summer takes some doing. After all, this was one of the best transfer windows we’ve ever seen in the club’s illustrious history.
It didn’t take Andrea Berta long to settle into his role, replacing Edu as the Gunners’ Sporting Director.
While his biggest project was to sign a new striker, notably welcoming Viktor Gyokeres to the Emirates Stadium, the Italian transfer chief did not stop there.
What a window this was. Even when you thought they were done with the signing of Eberechi Eze from Crystal Palace, Berta surprised us all by completing a deal for Bayer Leverkusen defender Piero Hincapie on Deadline Day. It wouldn’t be a transfer window at Arsenal without a hybrid defender arriving during the Mikel Arteta era.
Eze’s acquisition was exciting, as was Gyokeres’. In adding those two players, they’ve strengthened two of the big weak points in the side; goals and unpredictability from the left flank.
Yet, Berta made a number of underrated signings during his first window at the club.
Arsenal's most underrated signings of 2025
It remains to be seen how someone like Christian Norgaard settles in at Arsenal. While the Dane played a prominent part in pre-season, he’s not been seen in competitive action yet due to injury.
However, having captained Brentford under Thomas Frank, he will no doubt bring valuable experience to what is still a relatively young crop of players.
For those we have seen, two players immediately stand out. Noni Madueke is one of them.
When the winger arrived at Arsenal during pre-season, it’s safe to say fans were unhappy. Not another Chelsea reject, they cried. Quite. That being said, protests that were lodged disapproving of the deal were rather bizarre.
Since moving to the red side of London, it’s safe to say that Madueke has proven a number of supporters wrong. Against Liverpool prior to the international break, the 23-year-old looked like Arsenal’s best player.
Despite not scoring or assisting against Nottingham Forest on Saturday, he also arguably looked like the best player on the park.
The England international was relentless in his endeavours down the right flank, twisting Morato and Neco Williams inside and out. Madueke completed a whopping five dribbles and also completed five key passes.
Minutes played
78
Shots
0
Successful dribbles
5/8
Touches
65
Accurate passes
22/31
Key passes
5
Accurate crosses
4
Duels won
10
Tackles
3
In previous years, when Arsenal have been without Bukayo Saka due to injury, they have struggled. However, with Madueke now in the squad, they look far better equipped to deal with a problem like that one.
Another hugely underrated signing is Cristhian Mosquera. Arriving from Valencia for just £13m in the summer, very few expected the Spaniard to play too many minutes this campaign.
Aware of the player’s potential, the 21-year-old has already exceeded all expectations, standing in for the injured William Saliba.
When the Frenchman hobbled off in the early exchanges of the clash at Anfield two weeks ago, everyone feared the worst. That said, Mosquera stood in with ease and looked at home next to Gabriel Magalhaes in Arsenal’s backline.
The same could be said of the youngster’s performance against Forest this weekend. Mosquera was phenomenal, notably making a last-man tackle in the second half to deny what looked like a certain goalscoring opportunity.
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Described as “an incredible signing” by Gunners writer Dan Critchlow, the centre-back looks like he could dominate Premier League attackers for years to come.
Despite his impressive start to life in the English capital, he’s not quite the best signing Berta made during the summer months.
Arsenal's signing of the summer is emulating Xhaka
When Granit Xhaka left the Gunners behind in the summer of 2023, very few expected to see him back in the Premier League two years later.
Well, Xhaka left Bayer Leverkusen behind as a league champion and came back to England, moving to newly-promoted Sunderland.
Since returning, we’re seeing more of the Xhaka of old. A deeper-lying playmaker who breaks up the play.
Yet, that hasn’t always been the case, as his final season at the Emirates proved. That campaign was arguably the best of his career, scoring nine goals and assisting seven in all competitions.
Since then, Arteta has been searching for a replacement. He initially struggled to do so.
Kai Havertz was signed with the idea of filling the Swiss’ void in the left 8 position but ultimately ended up being better as a striker. Declan Rice has perhaps found the most success in that role, involved in 19 goals last term.
However, in £60m arrival Martin Zubimendi, they’ve signed another player capable of emulating the former club skipper.
Zubimendi isn’t the aggressive tackler that Xhaka is or was, but there are certain qualities that the Spaniard has offered and will offer that are reminiscent.
Like Xhaka, the 26-year-old controls and dictates the tempo of a game brilliantly. In fact, in that regard, he’s probably even better.
Spain manager Luis de la Fuente has already described him as “the second best” midfielder in the world behind Rodri. Speaking of Rodri, talking about his international colleague last week, he said: “He [Zubimendi] has the discipline and mentality that can lead him to become one of the best, if he isn’t already.”
The Spaniard is certainly more disciplined than Xhaka ever was but in their ability to break up the play and dictate, they are alike. Zubimendi showed during the 3-0 win over Forest that he can contribute in the final third like Xhaka too.
The Switzerland star has near immaculate technique and we all know how much of a rocket his left foot was. Well, the former Real Sociedad star emulated just that on Saturday, hammering home a volley from the edge of the area.
Not usually a goalscorer, Zubimendi rolled back the years at the Emirates with a Xhaka-like goalscoring display from the middle of the park.
It was the summer arrival who rounded off the scoring late on when he headed home Leandro Trossard’s cross. It was the first brace of his professional career and a 10/10 performance that cemented him as “the signing of the summer” in the words of club insider AFC Camden.
If he has an Arsenal career like Xhaka then we are in for quite the ride.
