Arsenal’s 2020 Transfer Window: All Signings & Departures

Now the dust has settled, it’s time to look back on what’s happened.

A deadline day that saw Arsenal make their biggest outlay under Mikel Arteta wasn’t the only deal that got over the line for the club, with players departing the Emirates and some lesser-known prospects making the move to north London.

Of course, the one on everyone’s lips – I’m still licking mine – is Thomas Partey. A player who the club have tracked extensively for the past few years has finally signed on the dotted line, all coming about after a frantic day of action that jumped from money being counted to announcement photos being taken.

With some deals completed well over a month ago, Monday 5th October concludes an unprecedented transfer window in which piggy banks have been stripped to the bare bones, negotiations became laborious, with expectations dampened accordingly.

Arsenal, to their credit, have come out of it a much stronger team. Not all the aspects of the squad were tended to, but there is no denying Mikel Arteta is in a stronger position to fight for European glory and a top four berth this season.

So, with activity over for *checks notes* just over eight weeks, here is a full rundown of the business done both in and out of the Emirates Stadium.

All Arsenal 2020/21 Summer Signings

Thomas Partey

Signed From: Atletico Madrid
Fee: £45.4m
Position: Central Midfielder

Best start with the biggun’, shouldn’t we? Yes, a name linked with Arsenal since way before Arteta even took the reins was completed on deadline day to widespread fanfare. Fear was growing that the club didn’t have the finances to complete the deal off after the Houssem Aouar pursuit fell through, but they pulled it off in the space on one day. Fantastic signing.

Gabriel Magalhaes

Signed From: Lille
Fee: £23.4m
Position: Central Defender

Ensuring central defence was bolstered was the first task on Arteta’s docket when the window opened. Having seen so many goals conceded in comical fashion via a combination of sloppy defending and individual errors, Gabriel’s signing has proven to be a superb bit work already.

Willian

Signed From: Free Agent
Fee: £0
Position: Winger

Arteta made it clear upon signing Willian that he wanted to add experience into the group in order to help nurture the younger players within the squad. The Brazilian’s addition does just that, while his flexibility across the forward line was also strongly behind the decision.

Rúnar Alex Rúnarsson

Signed From: Dijon
Fee: £1.8m
Position: Goalkeeper

A complete left-field move from Arsenal saw us bring in someone who, let’s be honest, none of us had the foggiest idea about. His record in France isn’t….great, nor were his unfortunate social media posts that came to light, but he’s well-liked by Inaki Cana. Still, if Bernd Leno gets crocked it really doesn’t look good in terms of who comes in to replace him.

Pablo Mari

Signed From: Flamengo
Fee: £7.2m
Position: Central Defender

Hardly worth including as it was already widely known to be happening anyway, but Pablo Mari’s loan move turned into a permanent one as Arsenal paid Flamengo £7.2m this summer. He’s barely kicked a ball since joining due to injury, but may get more minutes with William Saliba not ready to make the step up yet.

Cedric Soares

Signed From: Free Agent
Fee: Free
Position: Right-Back

A bizarre deal in which the defender was brought in injured, the Gunners paid a fee for the loan, one that expired in the summer, at the same time his contract with Southampton ended anyway. Proven himself to be a decent enough backup, though.

All Arsenal 2020/21 Summer Departures

Emiliano Martinez

Joined: Aston Villa
Fee: £15m
Position: Goalkeeper

The most emotional one of all, and a departure not made any easier by him continuing to be a bloody brilliant goalkeeper over at unbeaten Aston Villa. However, as was well documented, he was one of the players we had to sell in order to accrue relevant funding. Needs must, but he’ll never be forgotten for his trophy triumph.

Matteo Guendouzi

Joined: Hertha Berlin
Fee: Loan
Position: Central Midfielder

It’s actually quite funny when you think back to the point not long ago where Arsenal thought they could get £35m+ for Guendouzi, only for him to eventually join a Bundesliga side down in 13th position. I say funny, then you realise that we get zero loan fee for him, no obligation to buy for Hertha and he returns with just 12 months left on his contract. Not ideal.

Lucas Torreira

Joined: Atletico Madrid
Fee: Loan + Option to Buy
Position: Central Midfielder

Another deal where we’d hoped to accrue at least what we paid for him, in the end his wages off the bill and a loan to a side where there is no doubt he will thrive is amicable for all parties. The purchase option is around £20m – I’m not sure how certain they’ll be to activate it after pinching Partey off their hands – but Torreira simply didn’t fit into Arteta’s style.

Henrikh Mkhitaryan

Joined: Roma
Fee: £0
Position: Attacking Midfielder

One half of one of the single worst transfer deals of all time, it was simply about getting the Armenian off the wage bill. He was on big bucks after his move from Manchester United, so terminating his deal and letting him move to Roma was about all that could be done.

Konstantinos Mavropanos

Joined: VfB Stuttgart
Fee: Loan
Position: Central Defender

Remember him? It was way back in mid-July when this season-long loan came about, straight after ‘Dinos’ signed a new long-term contract with the Gunners. Clearly with an eye on earning a profit int he future, Arsenal scooped a £225k loan fee.

Note: These are just first-team players and excludes signings in and out of the youth sides.