Arsenal’s Banter Era: 2016-2021

James Shearman

• Updated: 21 Sept 2022 18:52 BST
• 4 min read

Arsenal remain one of the biggest clubs in Europe, despite the Gunners falling on relatively hard times in recent seasons.

Some of the greatest players in the world have plied their trade at Highbury and the Emirates Stadium, though unfortunately for the supporters, not so much lately.

Indeed, the past five years could well go down as Arsenal's 'banter era', having not participated in Europe's elite competition - the Champions League.

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Although, under impressive head coach Mikel Arteta, the signs are bright that those days are over.

Symbols of the Banter Era

Arsenal had long been criticised for finishing third or fourth in the Premier League, failing to compete for the title.

But matters worsened in the 2016-17 season when The Gunners failed to qualify for the Champions League for the first time under Arsene Wenger's reign.

The Frenchman had not been backed significantly in the transfer market, but he was partly to blame for the club's fall from grace as he was no longer a top manager.

Key figures in Arsenal's squad during Wenger's final years were Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez - the former embodying everything right and wrong with the club.

Spearheaded by Ozil, Arsenal were renowned for playing attractive football, but failed to produce in the biggest moments and were considered 'too nice'.

Sanchez and later Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang contributed plenty of goals to struggling Arsenal sides, but their egos were perhaps too big and both were subject to contract controversies.

Unai Emery was the man tasked with succeeding Wenger, an impossible job similar to what David Moyes was given at Manchester United.

After his departure, The Gunners went for a different approach in hiring former Manchester City coach Mikel Arteta, who only added fuel to the fire in terms of banter, with another eighth place finish.

However, rather surprisingly, the Arsenal board chose to stick with the Spaniard, who has repaid their faith with improved form in the 2022-23 season.

A new beginning?

Arsenal were busy in the 2022 summer transfer window, arming manager Mikel Arteta with a squad capable of challenging for the top four places in the Premier League – and perhaps even the title.

Gabriel Jesus was their biggest signing of the summer from Manchester City, arriving for £45 million.

His former teammate Oleksandr Zinchenko would later make a £31.5m move, which is the same fee that the Gunners paid Porto to sign Fabio Vieira.

Arsenal have also worked at getting fringe players off their books this summer by loaning them out. A good example is Nicolas Pepe, who has gone back to Ligue 1 with Nice after a disappointing spell at the club.

Now, having improved their team year-on-year for the last couple of seasons, this Arsenal squad looks as good a unit as the club have had for quite some time and optimism around the Emirates Stadium is high.