Andrea Berta arrived at Arsenal in March 2025, succeeding Edu Gaspar and immediately bringing a résumé built at Atlético that mixed decisive finds with expensive errors. His time in Madrid was defined by an eye for potential and a willingness to back unconventional moves.

Among his clearest successes was Rodri. Released by Atlético as a youth, he impressed at Villarreal and was re-signed for around $23 million in the summer of 2018. Within 12 months Manchester City activated his $83.5 million release clause, beginning his transformation into a future Ballon d’Or winner. Marcos Llorente was another shrewd acquisition. Signed from Real Madrid in the summer of 2019 as a replacement for Rodri, Llorente had made just 39 senior appearances for Madrid and had been told by Zinedine Zidane that he was not part of his plans. For $47 million he became a perfect fit for Diego Simeone, making well over 250 appearances and becoming one of the manager’s most trusted players.

Berta also showed instincts for bargain flips. He helped Genoa turn a profit on Leonardo Bonucci in 2009, buying for $4.7 million and selling for $12.4 million within a month. The decision to sign Luis Suárez for $8 million in 2020 was unfashionable but effective; Suárez scored 21 La Liga goals in his first season to fire Atlético to the title and added 11 the following campaign. The Antoine Griezmann cycle remains perhaps Berta’s most impressive piece of business: sold to Barcelona for $141 million, recalled on loan in 2021, Atlético refused to trigger a $47 million option and eventually re-signed him permanently for $23.5 million.

Yet the record contains costly mistakes. Viktor Gyökeres arrived at Arsenal for $85 million in June 2025 and had an underwhelming start, with most of his seven goals up until Christmas described as flukes and Mikel Arteta deploying Mikel Merino up front in response. Atlético paid around $70 million to re-sign Diego Costa in 2017 only for his contract to be terminated three years later. Thomas Lemar, a near-target for Arsenal in 2017 after a failed $117.5 million bid, has struggled for Atlético and is on loan at Girona in 2025–26, with just 10 goals in seven seasons. Jackson Martínez, signed for $41 million from Porto after 92 goals in three seasons, lasted six months before being sold and prompting Atlético president Enrique Cerezo to say Martínez “was not at the level” of the club. Finally, João Félix’s $148 million arrival in 2019 produced a mixed four-year spell that never fully justified that outlay.

Berta’s ledger is unmistakably mixed: decisive scouting and spectacular value plays alongside high-cost gambles that did not always pay off.

Arsenal captain Martin Ødegaard has outlined the uncertainty around his recovery after the medial collateral ligament diagnosis that followed knee-to-knee contact in the West Ham game. Faced with reports he would be sidelined until at least the second half of November, Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta accepted that he would be without his skipper for “a few weeks.”

Ødegaard declined to offer a firm return date, asking for patience while describing the practical difficulties of rehabilitating his stronger limb. “It’s tricky to set a return date with this type of injury because, especially it being my [stronger] left leg, a lot depends on how it goes when I start getting back on the pitch,” Ødegaard wrote in Arsenal’s programme ahead of Tuesday’s Champions League thumping of Atlético Madrid.

He explained the day-to-day challenge of testing the leg under match actions. “Sometimes it can be quite sore when you start passing the ball and shooting and all these things with that leg, so it’s really hard to say a date. All I can say is I’m progressing really well at the moment. I think we will know more when I start getting back on the training pitches and we’ll see how that goes. If that goes really well then it can be quick.”

On the grind of recovery he was candid. “It’s hard work and long days in recovery, but that’s what you want and I feel like it’s going well so far,” Ødegaard continued. “I feel like I’ve been really unlucky a few times this season.

“It was a knee-to-knee contact in the West Ham game, and at the time I didn’t know if it was bad or not because they can be quite painful, but normally you can run it off. So that’s why I tried to keep going, to see if it was getting better.” Arsenal would later diagnose Ødegaard with medial collateral ligament damage.

“I was hoping it was just a knock that would improve in a couple of minutes,” he recalled. “But it didn’t get better and I felt like something was wrong, so in the end it was better to come off. As soon as we got inside, the medical team had a proper look at it. When the adrenaline stopped flowing and it settled down a bit, then it was quite sore.”

Arsenal have recorded four wins in the five matches Ødegaard has missed. The club’s recent victory over Atlético required a set piece to break a goalless first half, and without the creativity from his compromised left leg Arsenal have struggled to produce a consistent flow of chances not originating from corners.

Mikel Arteta refused to let external storylines dictate Arsenal’s mood after a run of results elsewhere in the Premier League. He acknowledged the “narrative” around Liverpool’s four straight defeats but insisted his squad have shown no obvious change in demeanour following their recent win over Fulham.

The manager stressed the context of Arsenal’s recent victories, noting they have come against sides that took points from his team last season, which only adds to their value. Still, Arteta is careful about reading too much into an autumn run of form and wants standards to remain the determining factor.

Ahead of Arsenal’s Champions League clash with Atlético Madrid on Tuesday night, with two days to let Saturday’s victory over Fulham settle, Arteta was asked whether his players had an extra spring in their step. “I haven’t noticed that,” he assured assembled reporters, “but obviously, there is a lot of narrative afterwards.

“But that’s it,” Arteta continued, “every game in this league is a must-win and a very difficult game to win, and we’re all very appreciative of that, so you don’t get carried away with any of that.”

Arteta drew on recent title history to underline how fragile leads can be. Arsenal spent 248 days in first place during the 2022–23 campaign yet still finished second to Manchester City, and they finished second again at the end of 2023–24 despite leading the league with just a fortnight to play.

He also refused to be distracted by comparisons with last season, observing that there was a larger gap up to Liverpool last term and that Slot’s side are “far from the polished machine of last year,” yet he remained stoic.

“The only thing that I embrace is when I see the team, the energy, the temperature, the commitment and the quality that they can deliver, that it gives me that conviction that we can go all the way,” he fired back at a press pack eager for a foolhardy declaration of triumph. “But that’s it, that’s just a feeling that the next day you have to prove it, the next training session you have to prove it and nothing else, and we cannot be busy thinking about those topics.”