Arsenal’s 3-0 Community Shield victory over Manchester City sent a powerful message to the rest of the Premier League, even without two of their best players starting.
Bukayo Saka and Declan Rice both sat out the opening fixture, having only rejoined pre-season training around a week ago following their World Cup exertions.
The duo are being eased back into full fitness, with the club taking a cautious approach given the physical demands placed on them over the past year.
Rice now has elite midfield cover in the shape of Bruno Guimaraes, but the question of who adequately backs up Saka on the right remains very much unanswered.
Noni Madueke is not considered a sufficient replacement for Saka, whose own form has been a concern after a torn hamstring in 2024/25 stripped him of some of his trademark explosiveness.
Last season was Saka’s worst for overall output in five years at the club, with a niggling achilles issue further hampering him during the World Cup, where he did not look fully fit despite insisting otherwise.
Thomas Tuchel was clearly not willing to take risks with the winger, and there is cautious optimism that a lighter summer workload will help him return to his peak in 2026/27.
Martin Odegaard’s return to form is also a significant factor, with the Norwegian scoring and providing the pre-assist for Kai Havertz’s goal in the Community Shield, a performance that bodes well for Saka given how closely their outputs have been linked.
With Gabriel Martinelli heading for the exit and Leandro Trossard already gone, Arsenal and sporting director Andrea Berta have made signing left-sided attackers a clear priority this window.
Christos Tzolis has made an electric start at the Emirates, contributing two assists in the Community Shield and now boasting 31 assists in competitive action since the beginning of 2025/26.
Tzolis, signed for £34m, has shown he could replicate Saka’s impact on the opposite flank, but Arsenal are now pushing to add another high-calibre attacker before the window closes.
That target is Juventus forward Kenan Yildiz, a 21-year-old whose similarities to Saka have been identified across multiple data metrics, according to ScoutLab, which ranked Saka as the most similar player to Yildiz in Europe’s top five leagues last season.
Arsenal’s interest in Yildiz is not new, but his decision to sign a new contract in Turin appeared to end speculation about a move to North London earlier this summer.
However, after failing to secure deals for Vinicius Junior and Morgan Rogers, Arsenal have re-opened dialogue, with a report from TEAMtalk outlining that the club held fresh talks with the player’s camp to understand his current situation in Italy.
The Turkiye international is understood to be open to a move to the Emirates Stadium, though his new contract adds considerable complexity to any potential deal.
Reports in recent days have suggested Arsenal are prepared to pay an £87m fee to bring Yildiz to England, a significant outlay that reflects just how highly he is rated.
Yildiz played 27 times from the left and 19 times as a second striker in 2025/26, proving most productive centrally with seven goals and six assists compared to three goals and four assists from wide positions.
His per-90 stats stack up remarkably well against Saka, with Yildiz edging the Arsenal winger across categories including non-penalty goals, shots, open play expected assists, big chances created, and successful dribbles.
Both players rank almost identically for progressive carries, and Yildiz actually surpasses Saka for progressive passes per 90 minutes, underlining his creative intelligence and technical quality in tight spaces.
If Arteta can get this deal done before the window shuts, Yildiz has every hallmark of the elite, multi-functional attacker the Gunners manager has been searching for all summer long.