Arsenal are no longer chasing. People are coming to them.
Ian Wright walked into London Colney not long ago and came away with a clear sense of what Arsenal's summer is going to look like. The former striker sat down with sporting director Edu and manager Mikel Arteta, and what he heard was not the language of a club licking its wounds — it was the language of a club that believes it has arrived somewhere.
Edu, Wright told The Athletic, has been fielding so many calls from agents and players' representatives that he described his phone as ringing off the hook. The significance of that, in Wright's telling, is not just volume — it's direction. Arsenal are no longer chasing. People are coming to them.
The backdrop to all this optimism is a title race that has slipped away. Manchester City dismantled Arsenal 4-1 last week, and City's form since then has been the kind that makes the rest of the table feel like spectators. Arteta's side have dropped points in each of their last four matches, and while a win over Chelsea on Tuesday night could technically return them to the top of the table, City hold two games in hand. The arithmetic is unforgiving.
But Wright's point — and it seems to be the point Edu and Arteta are making to anyone who will listen — is that this season was never the ceiling. It was the floor. A young squad that spent most of the year at the summit of English football, playing a style that drew admiring attention from across Europe, has apparently convinced a calibre of player that would not previously have considered the Emirates that Arsenal is the right destination.
Wright was direct about what he found when he visited the training ground. The club, he said, is no longer in the business of cajoling players to sign. The work Arteta has done on the pitch, and the infrastructure Edu has built around it, is doing the persuading now. That shift — from pursuer to pursued — is the thing Wright seemed most struck by.
He was equally clear about the mentality he encountered in those conversations. Winning, he said, is the only thing on the table when you talk to either man. Not consolidation, not top-four security, not managed ambition. Winning. He pointed to the draws Arsenal have collected this season not as failures of nerve but as the byproduct of a team that kept pushing for three points when a more cautious side would have settled for one.
Arsenal face Chelsea tonight with a chance to steady themselves before the final weeks of the season. The title may be beyond them, but the manner in which they finish — and the business they conduct in the summer — will set the terms for what comes next. Wright, for one, is not troubled by the prospect of another year without the trophy. He is watching what is being built, and he thinks the next phase is the one worth being excited about.
For now, Edu's phone keeps ringing.
Notable Quotes
Edu is saying his phone is ringing off the hook and they're very confident about the calibre of player they're going to sign.— Ian Wright, speaking to The Athletic
When you speak to Edu and Mikel, everything is about winning. They just want to win.— Ian Wright
The Hearth Conversation Another angle on the story
What's the real story here — is this just a club trying to spin a disappointing title race?
There's some of that, sure. But the specific detail Wright offers — that players are now initiating contact rather than being recruited — is worth taking seriously if it's true.
Why does that direction of contact matter so much?
Because it tells you something about perceived status. Clubs that have to chase players are operating from a position of need. Clubs that receive calls are operating from a position of desirability. That's a different kind of leverage in negotiations.
Arsenal have been here before though — moments of optimism that didn't quite land.
They have. But the 2022/23 season is genuinely different in kind. Spending most of the year top of the Premier League, playing attractive football with a young squad — that's a calling card that didn't exist three years ago.
What does Wright's access here tell us about how Arsenal manage their public image?
He's a trusted voice with emotional credibility among supporters. Using him to carry a message about summer ambition is deliberate. It lands differently than a press release.
Is there a risk in raising expectations this high before a ball has been kicked in the transfer window?
Always. But the alternative — staying quiet while the title slips away — probably felt worse. This is a way of keeping supporters oriented toward what's coming rather than grieving what's being lost.
What would actually validate the optimism Wright is describing?
Signings. Specifically, the calibre of player Edu is hinting at. If Arsenal bring in one or two names that would previously have chosen a rival, the phone-ringing story becomes a footnote to something real.