I never said this Arsenal academy challenge would be easy! Midway through my fourth season, this is already shaping up to be my most frustrating one yet!
In case you missed the first half of this campaign, my young Gunners have been VERY inconsistent. While we’ve finally figured out how to defeat our title rivals Liverpool and Manchester City, we’ve also struggled to kill off lesser teams like Brentford and Bournemouth. Too many wasted opportunities and dropped points have left us some way off the pace.
Today’s chapter takes us through the second half of the 2024/2025 season, as we attempt to resurrect our Premier League hopes, while also competing for both the Champions League and the FA Cup. There’s also a look at this season’s youth intake, which sadly does not include Ethan Nwaneri (who, alas, won’t make his Football Manager debut until FM24).
JANUARY TRANSFER WINDOW
Our January transfer business mainly consisted of us loaning out several young prospects. The biggest name among those was right-winger Harvey Elliott, who just couldn’t find any consistency with us. Perhaps a few months at Premier League strugglers Crystal Palace would give Harvey the chance to fulfil his top-flight potential?
Marcelo Flores wasn’t quite ready for regular PL football after recovering from a broken ankle. The attacking midfielder returned to the Championship for a half-season stint with promotion-chasing Middlesbrough. Meanwhile, Croatian midfield starlet Anton Plećaš would gain some much-needed experience with Basel in Switzerland.
19-year-old right-back Jeremie Labuthie and went to League One with Coventry and Huddersfield. At the same level, another right-flanker – inverted winger Amario Cozier-Duberry – was loaned to MK Dons shortly after scoring his first two senior goals for Arsenal.
We still couldn’t find a buyer for backup midfielder Albert Sambi Lokonga, who now had just 18 months left on his contract. However, there was some interest in Charlie Patino, for whom Leverkusen made a £41million offer. It’ll take a lot more than that for us to part with one of our most promising homegrown talents.
Two new signings arrived at Arsenal in January. The first of them was 18-year-old Canada international Riccardo Murolo, who joined on a free transfer after his Toronto FC contract expired. 15 Bravery, 13 Strength, great aerial ability – this kid’s gonna be a great centre-half one day.
Ah, right… you’ve noticed that ‘Unambitious’ personality, haven’t you? I could have sworn Murolo had a ‘Resilient’ personality when we first agreed to sign him. It seems that getting his big move to Europe on £12,500 per week seems to have killed the Canuck’s ambition already. Shucks.
And having first pursued him back in 2023, we finally signed Michael Olise from Milan to be Bukayo Saka‘s new backup! The London-born Frenchman isn’t the strongest winger, but his pace, flair and creativity can hopefully help us unlock stubborn defences.
I also recalled three players from their loan spells to provide additional cover in case of injuries. Left-back Hugo Montañana, right-back Brooke Norton-Cuffy, and forward Lucas Stassin all returned to the Under-23s while featuring for the senior team every now and then. While Montañana’s development has stalled, I’m hopeful that the other two lads can become regular first-teamers.
RESULTS: JANUARY TO MAY 2025
PREMIER LEAGUE
January and February pretty much summed up the ‘feast or famine’ nature of this Arsenal team. Either we dominated our opponents and comfortably beat them by 3+ goals, or we forgot how to finish and ending up drawing matches that we shouldn’t have.
I could perhaps understand why our second XI failed to beat Brentford at home, just a few days after our first-team won 4-1 at Manchester City. What I cannot explain is why Takehiro Tomiyasu had a brain freeze against Southampton a week later, which allowed their teenage striker Chris Geiles to equalise.
“My blood runs cold, Tomi’s memory has just been sold…”
We faced the Chris Geiles Band again in March, and an awful performance at St Mary’s ended with Southampton scoring an 89th-minute winner. It was the first time we’d conceded twice in a league game this season – but Mark Travers was keeping goal because of an injury to Aaron Ramsdale, which might explain it.
Our inconsistent form cost us any realistic chance of staying in the title race, with Liverpool, Manchester City and even Manchester United pulling clear. As we headed into April, the best we could realistically hope for was to finish 4th and retain our Champions League place.
After a ruthless 4-0 win at Crystal Palace, we struggled to convert chances against Sheffield United and Brighton but still made it three wins on the trot. With Eddie Nketiah scoring 8 goals in his last 10 league games, there was even a chance that he could beat Erling Haaland to the Golden Boot.
So… what could possibly go wrong?
Oh, not much, just Yunus Musah SNAPPING HIS BLOODY LEG IN HALF – just like Emile Smith Rowe did two years ago! The attacking midfielder had scored 13 goals this season before his unlucky break… literally.
We then lost 2-1 at Old Trafford, as Eddie drew a blank – and Alfie’s monster scored a 78th-minute winner. That result officially ended our title hopes, and effectively secured 3rd place for Manchester United.
Thankfully, we did finish 4th by winning our final four matches – including a couple of hard-fought 1-0s at Chelsea and Tottenham. A stunning volley from Smith Rowe gave us our first away win over the Spuds in this save, and also ensured they would miss out on Europe yet again!
Emile finished the season by scoring in three straight games, including a 3-0 final-day win over Norwich where he was assisted by 18-year-old winger Joaquín Agüero. Speaking of Agüero…
Manchester City had an anti-Agüero moment, LOSING the title on goal difference after conceding an injury-time equaliser at Bournemouth! Yeison Guzmán became an unexpected Anfield hero, as Liverpool won their THIRD league championship in a row!
Both Liverpool and City struggled to find form in May, which meant United finished just one point behind them, and we were only five points short ourselves! While our defensive record was easily the best in the league, it was our inability to kill off weaker teams that had ultimately cost us the title.
West Ham finished in 5th place, while Leicester will also be in Europe next season after beating Manchester United to lift the EFL Cup. Incidentally, in every season of this save so far, we have either won the EFL Cup ourselves or been eliminated by the eventual winners. Chelsea’s European hopes – and Pep Guardiola’s job – hinged on the FA Cup, but more on that later.
Crystal Palace and Sheffield United both went straight back to the Championship – and I’m absolutely delighted to see the back of Brentford, who’ve drawn four of our last six meetings (including three at the Emirates). Wolves predictably dominated the Championship with 118 points, while Sunderland and play-off winners Middlesbrough both return to the PL for the first time since 2017.
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE
After being drawn against our Europa League nemeses Barcelona in the last 16 of the Champions League, it was always going to be a tough ask to make further progress. Even so, we gave the Catalan giants pretty much everything we got.
The home leg at the Emirates was incredibly tight, as both teams recorded 1.09 xG from 10 shots in a 1-1 draw. Our ball-playing defender William Saliba had opened the scoring with this clinical point-blank header… into his own net!
Speaking of Arsenal centre-backs doing stupid things…
…THAT was Daniel ‘Dives Into Tackles’ Ballard.
Ballard’s attempt to amputate Gabriel Barbosa just before half-time at Camp Nou arguably cost us any chance of winning the second leg. Though our 10 men somehow managed to take Barça to extra-time, the hosts eventually overwhelmed us and won 3-1 (4-2 on aggregate).
To be fair, Barcelona would go all the way, knocking out both Manchester clubs before beating arch-rivals Real Madrid 3-1 in the Final. Losing to the champions doesn’t hurt quite so much, does it?
FA CUP
We did enjoy a big run in the FA Cup (at last!), though a tricky run saw us face Premier League opposition on every step of the journey.
After sweeping past Crystal Palace and Aston Villa, we were drawn to host Manchester United in Round 5 – the stage where we’d fallen in the last two seasons. Olise won the Arsenal fans over with two magnificent goals in the first half, and centre-back Fikayo Tomori expertly marked Haaland out of the game before completing a 3-0 win, and a place in the Quarters.
Our reward was another home game against Liverpool, which was played just three days after our defeat in Barcelona. Things started horribly when – in a repeat of the Community Shield – our ultra-reliable captain Declan Rice gave away a very early penalty. I was so disgusted with Rice that I subbed him off immediately, as Mohamed Salah fired Liverpool into the lead.
But just like in the Community Shield, we produced a brilliant comeback to beat the Reds. Saka levelled in the 24th minute, and we withstood a Liverpool onslaught before taking them to extra-time. This time, our energy levels held out just enough to launch a counter-attack in the 116th minute, which ended with Saliba scoring the winner (in the right end!) to put us into the Semis.
Next up was a Wembley date with Chelsea. Martin Ødegaard‘s devastating runs from midfield gave us a 2-0 lead in a dominant first half. Though Chelsea pulled a goal back late on, Saka struck back instantly to secure a 3-1 win.
Only one manager could now stop me from leading Arsenal to a record 15th FA Cup… Erik ten Hag, and his United team. That’s Newcastle United.
Though the big-spending Magpies still hadn’t cracked the top six, they had moved back in the right direction since Ten Hag replaced Eddie Howe in the middle of a relegation battle last season. The Dutchman had now assembled a team full of exciting talent (and Harry Maguire) to try and deliver Newcastle’s first major trophy since 1969.
This would not be a cakewalk, especially with the number of injuries we were picking up. As well as Musah, we were missing both Tomori and Kieran Tierney, while Saliba and Saka barely made it onto the bench. That said, I could still name a strong starting XI with four Hale End boys, including Ballard in his first big cup Final.
A quick start was crucial, after just five minutes, we delivered just that. Reiss Nelson‘s corner found Gabriel, whose header was saved, but the big Brazilian tapped in the rebound. 1-0 to the Gunners!
We then started to lose our discipline, as Gabriel, Ballard and Tomiyasu all went into the book. In the 34th minute, though, a foul ON Ballard from Newcastle’s Leon Bailey gave us a penalty. Olise was confident he could double our lead, but Magpies keeper Gregor Kobel had other ideas and kept it out.
Kobel was a constant menace throughout this match. Even though we created loads of quality chances, the Swiss goalie was always there to keep them out. It took a huge slice of luck to beat him for a second time early in the second half, when Olise’s low shot clipped in off Stefan de Vrij.
Though we had a few defensive wobbles in the last half-hour, Newcastle rarely looked like getting themselves into the game. After losing back-to-back European finals, this season would end with some major silverware for Arsenal!
Incidentally, our victory meant that Chelsea qualified for the Europa League, which also means Guardiola will get to keep his job after… no, wait, they sacked him anyway! Never change, Chelsea…
YOUTH UPDATE
Our development teams also tasted success this season, doing the Premier League Cup ‘double’. Firstly, the Under-18s defeated Tottenham in their Final, and then the Under-21s saw off Manchester City to claim their third Cup in four years. Sadly, there were no league titles to celebrate, with our Under-18s losing 1-0 to Manchester United in the U18 Premier League Final.
This season saw one of our 2023 youth intake players emerge as a genuine prospect. That man is Joaquín Agüero – the left-footed winger whose crossing ability has improved a lot over the past two years. The Argentine pocket rocket played in three cup games before getting an assist on his Premier League debut on the final day against Norwich. The boy can play.
From our 2024 intake, the standout performer has been Italian playmaker Andrea Tarantino, who also made his league bow against Norwich. Though his low determination is still a concern, he has become a natural central midfielder and is steadily improving his game.
So, what did the 2025 intake have in store? This was an important one, because it’s the last youth intake that I’ll have two full years to develop in the Under-18s. At first glance, it all looks a bit… eh…
The good news is that Ed Crittenden looks a pretty handy centre-back, which is an area where we’re lacking in homegrown talent. He’s already pretty strong in the air, very brave, and a good decision-maker. He’s also got the ambition and determination to improve his game, which is more than can be said of our other prospects.
Michael Smith is a holding midfielder who’s an aggressive tackler, but he’s unambitious. Then there’s Oliver Cumming (oh, grow up…), an advanced playmaker who is technically solid, but he’s also unambitious. Sean Steele is yet another emerging full-back who’s naturally very fit, but he too is unambitious.
And then we have another centre-back called Ronan Walsh, who has a solid spread of key attributes and could be a good ball-playing defender. But he is… you guessed it… light-hearted.
That’s just from the top end of this intake. Looking further down the list, there were another SIX players with lower potential who also had ‘Unambitious’ personalities, and they typically had very low determination too, which is a huge no-no for their development.
What’s with the influx of unambitious kids in Arsenal’s class of 2025? I have a theory.
I’m pretty sure that your youth-team staff members’ personalities can sometimes rub off on your youth intakes. Several of our Under-18s staff have ‘balanced’ or worse personalities, and one of the sports scientists is indeed ‘Unambitious’. He’s a newgen whose actual name is Ian Slack, but I renamed him for obvious reasons.
Maybe this is nothing to do with some random sports scientist, and it’s all simple pot luck. I’m just putting it out there.
Lastly, a quick update on how our loanees have been getting on. One of our standout performers was 19-year-old Sean Fallon, who was consistently solid at Swansea and is already considered by our coaches to be a borderline PL-level left-back. I might even be tempted to promote him straight into the first-team squad next season!
Flores will probably get another crack at the seniors. His loan spell at Middlesbrough went as well as I’d hoped, as he scored six goals – including one in the Championship Play-Off Final that helped fire Boro back into the top flight!
Teenage midfielders Victor Quintyne and Alan Wilding both lit up League One, as did Labuthie during his half-season at Coventry. Quintyne looks ready to take on the Championship next season, and I’m hoping the other two lads will be playing at a similar level.
Of course, things didn’t always go to plan for all our loanees. I’m looking at you, Harvey Elliott…
The final season might have blown on the 2024/2025 season, but I’m not quite ready to finish this chapter of the story. There will be one more post on Friday, where we’ll look at some season statistics – and there will also be an in-depth squad report.
Fuller FM 
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