Midfield is possibly the most intriguing area of the pitch for Arsenal coming into the new season. Mikel Arteta’s options are well known for the most part, but how he uses them could change compared to 2025-26. The first reason is the need to preserve those who were depended upon heavily en route to winning the title, namely Declan Rice and Martin Zubimendi. The pair ranked first and second respectively for minutes played at Arsenal last season. Looking at the distribution of minutes played in midfield, Arteta can afford to share that game time out more equally across his group of midfielders. For example, the majority of Myles Lewis-Skelly’s 461 minutes in midfield only came in May, and those performances suggest he should feature more prominently in those areas in the campaign ahead. Arteta’s use of Ethan Nwaneri in the coming weeks will also be interesting, given the staggered return of Arsenal’s World Cup midfield representatives. But is there anything they need to adjust? @ArtdeRoche analyses Mikel Arteta's considerations ahead of the 2026-27 season. 🔗