Jermaine Pennant: Arsenal Needs Superstar Left Winger
Jermaine Pennant fears Arsenal have gone backwards in attack – and insists a “superstar” left winger is now a necessity, not a luxury.
Arsenal’s left flank stripped bare
Viktor Gyokeres arrived 12 months ago as the headline No.9 signing, the man bought to finally crack Arsenal’s long-standing centre-forward puzzle. Twenty-one goals in his debut season underlined his threat, yet he still does not own the shirt. He starts this campaign looking at the game from the bench while Kai Havertz leads the line.
Around him, the supporting cast has changed dramatically.
Leandro Trossard, whose goals so often tilted tight games Arsenal’s way, has gone to Besiktas. Gabriel Martinelli, a symbol of the club’s rebuild and a seven-year servant, has departed for Al-Hilal in the Saudi Pro League. Two clutch options on the left, gone in the same summer.
There was a brief flicker of fantasy. Arsenal monitored Vinicius Junior as his contract talks at Real Madrid dragged on, but he stayed put at the Santiago Bernabeu. The dream never moved beyond that.
Bradley Barcola did become genuinely available when Paris Saint-Germain opened the door to a sale. Arsenal asked the question, then quickly backed away when told the price: £123 million. Liverpool did not. They stepped in and took the Champions League winner off the market.
So Mikel Arteta goes into the season with Christos Tzolis operating off the left, a player of clear promise but still an obvious downgrade on the star names Arsenal had been linked with.
“I think Arsenal are weaker”
Speaking to GOAL in association with NetBet Casino, former Arsenal winger Pennant did not sugar-coat his view of the situation.
“They have to at some point because teams are not going to sit dormant,” he said when asked if the Gunners must sign a marquee left winger.
“Teams around them are not going to not strengthen in those areas. Come January, I'm sure the likes of Chelsea, Man United, Liverpool and Man City are going to go in the market again and strengthen again. So they have to.
“And this is weird saying, but I think they've actually got weaker. I think Arsenal are weaker, especially going forward anyway, than they were last season. Because they've lost some really clutch individuals.”
Trossard is central to his argument. Pennant pointed to the Belgian’s decisive moments – West Ham, Aston Villa, and others – and argued those contributions were title-defining.
“I think without Trossard they probably wouldn't have won the league. The West Ham goal, you could go on with the important goals he scored - Aston Villa. Then they've lost Martinelli, yeah, his number's dwindled but again it's still a good impact player you can bring off the bench. They've lost him.
“And they've not really replaced that apart from Tzolis. So if he gets injured or whatnot, their left side's kind of doomed. You’ve got to put [Eberechi] Eze out there, he's not a winger, he's a midfielder.”
That is the crux of the concern. One injury, and Arteta is shuffling square pegs into round holes in one of the most important positions on the pitch.
Gyokeres sidelined, Havertz back at No.9
The centre-forward picture only adds to the intrigue. Arsenal spent big on Gyokeres to be the focal point of their attack, yet as the 2026-27 season begins, it is Havertz who has the manager’s trust.
“Yes, they’ve strengthened at the back,” Pennant acknowledged. “So I think going forward they definitely need to strengthen. Because they've probably fallen out of favour with Gyokeres and they've reverted back to [Kai] Havertz, who was never really their 15, 20-goal-a-season guy.”
Havertz has started the campaign as the main striker, with Gyokeres reduced to impact cameos. The Swede must now make peace with the role of game-changer rather than guaranteed starter.
Behind them, Martin Odegaard looks sharp again in his playmaker role, knitting moves together and dictating tempo. Bukayo Saka has already found the net twice, carrying his usual load on the right flank.
Winning now, but questions linger
On paper, the early signs are immaculate. Arsenal have been flawless through three Premier League fixtures and opened their Champions League campaign with a win over Napoli. Arteta can point to the table, the performances, the control, and argue he already has everything he needs to launch another assault on silverware.
Yet the doubt refuses to disappear. The left flank still feels like a patchwork solution rather than a finished product. Tzolis has the shirt for now, but behind him the options thin out quickly, and the names Arsenal once chased are thriving elsewhere.
If the goals dry up, if injuries bite, if that side of the pitch becomes a target rather than a weapon, the January window will not just be an opportunity. It will be a test of how serious Arsenal really are about staying at the very top.
