Arsenal's transfer window: Free agents, young talent and gaps still to fill
Arsenal's busy window has brought several big names to north London already, but what else is needed?
It has been a busy couple of weeks at London Colney, during which Arsenal’s long-awaited summer reset has finally been able to gather pace. Last week, German youth international Lisa Baum and young Danish goalkeeper Isabella Damm, became the club’s fifth and sixth additions of the summer, with Arsenal acquiring 19-year-old Baum from RB Leipzig for a reported fee of €600,000.
Prior to Baum’s arrival, Arsenal had already secured the transfers of Ona Batlle, Selina Cerci, Geraldine Reuteler and Georgia Stanway. Some of these players are direct positional replacements for departures announced back in May. Baum and Batlle fill gaps left by the departures of Beth Mead and Katie McCabe, while Reuteler will offer the versatility previously provided by Victoria Pelova.
Stylistically, the Gunners will be looking to make changes. The signing of Baum gives Arsenal a left-footed, right-sided winger that can cut inside, much as Chloe Kelly and Caitlin Foord have done from the left.
Following the £1 million acquisition of Olivia Smith last summer, Baum will provide Arsenal with another direct attacking threat. She was among the best dribblers in the Frauen-Bundesliga last season and ranked top for chances created among the league’s wingers.
Baum is far from the finished product but has showed quality on top of her dribbling prowess, especially for someone so young. Her signing should allow Arsenal to level up an attack that failed to score on six occasions in all competitions last season.
Baum is not Arsenal’s only addition in the wide areas, with Ona Batlle returning to the Women’s Super League after a successful three-year stint at Barcelona.
Defeated by Arsenal in the 2025 Women’s Champions League final, Batlle’s final match in a Barça shirt saw her reclaim European football’s top prize, having previously won the competition in 2024. The Spain international will nominally replace Katie McCabe, whose controversial move to Chelsea was confirmed last month.
Tactically, it will be a little more complicated than that. Batlle is most comfortable at right-back – a position Arsenal have covered thanks to Emily Fox and Smilla Holmberg. The expectation is that Batlle will instead be asked to fill in at left-back, a position she has played before for club and country thanks to her ability to use both feet.
Batlle’s predecessor, McCabe, took on a hybrid role in the left-back position under Renee Slegers, often inverting into midfield. This is a role that would lend itself well to Batlle’s skillset, as her right-footedness would allow her to play an interior role in possession with Smith, Baum, Kelly or Foord able to provide width ahead of her.
Stepping into midfield from a full-back position shouldn’t be a problem for Batlle; no full-back completed more successful passes per 90 minutes in Liga F last season.
The midfield itself was arguably the priority position for Renée Slegers’ side going into the summer window. Swiss playmaker Lia Wälti was never properly replaced after departing for Juventus a year ago and with Kyra Cooney-Cross unavailable for personal reasons in the second half of the season, Slegers effectively only had three players at her disposal in central midfield, with one of those being the out-of-favour and now-departed Victoria Pelova.
The arrivals of Stanway and Reuteler, two of four players signed from Frauen-Bundesliga clubs so far this summer, provide much-needed reinforcement in the midfield engine room. Both players will offer a muscular box-to-box presence which could complement technically dominant profiles like Mariona Caldentey and Kim Little.
Stanway will help in quickly moving the ball into the final third. She topped the charts for successful passes, accurate long balls, and big chances created by midfielders in the Frauen-Bundesliga last season.
As for Reuteler, she replaces the jack-of-all-trades skillset associated with the departing Pelova. A midfielder by trade, the Swiss international can also play off the wing, or even up front. A player who thrives in big spaces, the 27-year-old could be a valuable transition threat and is more than capable of chipping in with goals from midfield, netting seven times in the Frauen-Bundesliga for Eintracht Frankfurt last season.
But if goals are required, look no further than Selina Cerci. Joining from Hoffenheim, the Germany international racked up 25 league goal contributions (16 goals, 9 assists) last season. She will add attacking firepower to a side that already boasts excellent depth at centre-forward with Alessia Russo and Stina Blackstenius, and will eventually welcome back Michelle Agyemang, who continues her rehab from an ACL injury picked up in October.
Quite where Cerci fits into this puzzle remains to be seen. Theoretically, the continued use of Russo in the number 10 position would free up a spot for Cerci to rotate with Blackstenius at centre-forward, especially while Agyemang remains on the treatment table.
Like Blackstenius, Cerci offers a robust, physical presence, though the German possesses a level of composure in the final third at Hoffenheim that wouldn’t typically be associated with the Swede. Alternatively, a wide role could be fashioned for Cerci, who has the ability to fashion chances from tight angles and whip shots inside the far post. In addition to this, Cerci is a good crosser of the ball, should she ever find herself out on the flank.
Looking ahead to the rest of Arsenal’s transfer window, the left-sided centre-half position has caused headaches for a number of seasons now and could yet be addressed. The Gunners failed in a last-ditch attempt to persuade McCabe to stay, having earmarked a role in central defence for her.
Further forward, the Gunners look well-stocked, but may jump at any market opportunities that present themselves should the right player become available. In short, Arsenal’s much-anticipated squad rebuild is off to a solid enough start, but there is still work to do as this long WSL off-season drags on.
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