Ranking the Premier League big 6 based on their summer transfer window

#2 Arsenal

Arsenal did their summer transfer business swiftly and early in the window

The post-Wenger era at Arsenal is shaping up nicely and the Gunners were quick to make alterations to their squad for new manager Unai Emery.

It was a tough call between Arsenal and Chelsea for the #2 spot in this list, but the Gunners edge their London rivals out narrowly because they knew where they had to strengthen and they did that quite early in the window.

Before discussing their incoming transfers, it is important to note that they dealt with a lot of fringe players in the summer. Santi Cazorla and Jack Wilshere were released and they joined Villarreal and West Ham respectively; Calum Chambers and Takuma Asano were loaned out and finally, Lucas Perez was sold to West Ham.

Arsenal’s first summer signing was Switzerland captain, Stephan Lichtsteiner, on a free transfer. The veteran brings a wealth of top-flight experience to the squad and provides competition for Hector Bellerin.

They followed up by signing Bernd Leno from Bayer Leverkusen to phase out both Petr Cech and David Ospina. Leno is still only 26 and should prove to be reliable in goal for many years.

Sokratis Papastathopoulos was next and the Greek defender added some much-needed depth and quality to the central defence of Arsenal which struggled with injuries and form last season.

The final two additions were to bolster the midfield which was necessary following the departures of some key players. Arsenal fans were crying out for a defensive midfielder for years and they finally got one in Lucas Torreira. The Uruguayan is very young and still has a lot of room to develop further.

The final summer signing was Matteo Guendouzi from Lorient. At the time of his arrival, it seemed like he was one for the future but the Frenchman has impressed in preseason and should be able to give Emery some welcome selection headache this season.

Transfer window rating - 3.5/5