FM26 No More 'Boring' Arsenal

It is June 2026, and Arteta's Arsenal have just come off the back of beating Real Madrid in the Champions League final to complete a league, FA cup and UCL treble. The mainstream sports media has been in such a state of hysteria, that the governing bodies of football have decided that unless Fergie's disciples deem their playing style entertaining enough, Arsenal will never be allowed to win a trophy again. In the knowledge that they will never approve of a manager that uses set pieces as a way to break down teams that stick 10 men on the edge of their box from kick off, Arsenal's owners have taken the difficult decision to relieve Arteta of his duties as their manager.



In what feels like a post-apocalyptic aftermath of Arsenal's most successful season ever, I am taking over the club with a clear mandate. Can I transform the identity of this Arsenal squad, make them the most technically brilliant, easy on the eye team in the history of sport all while maintaining the level of expectation that Arteta has set? No consistently scraping top 4 but looking good while doing it, no getting dumped out on the round of 16 10-2 on aggregate.

But just what will pass as exciting enough football? It is a fine line to tread, long balls and direct football? Boring. Old fashioned. Dominating possession and slowly passing your opponents to death? Boring. Set pieces, crosses, attacking players with no flair or technical ability? You guessed it, BORING.

Wenger set some great precedents for exciting football. 4 number 10s on the pitch at once, quick one-twos and 3rd man runs is certainly 1 style of football that will meet the criteria. People also love to watch great dribblers and players that can score from range. These 3 different types of excitement will greatly inform our recruitment policy moving forwards, and the tactical identity of the team.

Out With the Old

Due to the successful nature of the previous season, plenty of my players are attracting interest from elsewhere. The first thought on my mind when deciding on how to reshape the squad for the 26/27 season is that I don't want Ødegaard being the most attacking of the 3 on midfield. For more entertaining football I'd much rather have 1 player behind him, and a role ahead of him that Eze, Nwaneri, Havertz etc. can play. I also want to try and keep the transfers fairly realistic, looking at players that have been linked with the club in real life, and players around the right price and age profile that the club usually look for. On top of obviously requiring players that will contribute to the desired style of play.

With these things in mind, some players are out the door early.

Transfers Out

Declan Rice PSG - £70m
Obviously a laughably low fee for a player of his quality, but the planned midfield restructuring combined with Rice's profile as a player, I decided to take the money and reinvest it in the squad. A world class all rounder, but not the type of player that excites the crowd with their technique and aesthetic quality. (Besides the odd free kick or 2 ;))

Ben White Liverpool - £35m
A decent fee for someone that is not our first choice option at right back, and another well rounded player, not the most attacking option at right back, and if we need a solid player to deal with a dangerous left winger, Timber is already great defensively anyway.

Viktor Gyökeres Real Madrid - £48m
Despite currently having recorded the 2nd fastest sprint speed in the UCL this season out of the whole Arsenal squad (in real life I should clarify), Paul Scholes says he runs like he's got jeans on. You'd be forgiven for falling over laughing at that crushing witticism (or indeed the fee I've sold Rice for), but either way it is clear we can't continue with him up front.

Leandro Trossard Real Madrid - £20m
31. 1 year left on his deal. No brainer.

With £170m already recouped in transfer fees, we have a metaphorical chasm of wiggle room in the transfer window to spice up our life. Exciting news on the way soon...

In With the New

With over £200m of raw dosh burning a hole in my pocket, I got to work on acquiring some suitable transfer targets. The DNA of this team will be centred around certain attributes and player traits in order to make sure the squad at my disposable is as capable of implementing our new tactical identity as possible. In the main, the attributes and traits I'll be looking for are as follows:

Dribbling, Long Shots, Technique, Flair & Vision.
Plays one-twos, Likes to beat man repeatedly, shoots from distance, runs with ball often etc.

Obviously the position of the player will determine which of these attributes are most important, but by and large, these things are what I believe will make us the most exciting team to watch in the world.

Transfers In

Morgan Rogers - £45m - £135k p/w
Still only 23, Rogers has been regarded as one of the most exciting players in the league over the last couple of seasons, and his 18 flair and 17 dribbling are a testament to that. Combined with player traits that encourage dribbling and playing killer balls, this made him a perfect target to replace Trossard as an option at left wing, and to prop up our homegrown quota with Rice and White also leaving. While his general intelligence on the pitch may still leave something to be desired, the fact he still has room to grow means he will be at worst a solid rotation option, and at best an elite forward in the coming years.

Amar Dedic - £40m - £67k p/w
1 scouting report on this guy was all it took to convince me he was the man to replace White as our 2nd option at right back. Only paying 67 grand a week for a 23 year old right back with 17 flair and 16 dribbling is far more than I had hoped for. His ability to competently fill in at LB as well should not be understated, especially as I am using the brilliant Daveincid's realism pack, which increases the quantity of injuries compared to the base game.

HUGE SWAP DEAL!

Julian Alvarez - £90m (+£25m incentives) - £175k p/w
Gabriel Jesus Athletico Madrid - £35m

Ok it wasn't technically a direct swap deal but it might as well have been, with both transfers going through within 4 days of each other. With Gyökeres leaving, I felt like we could use another striking option, ideally with more of a direct goal threat than the excellent but never prolific Kai Havertz. Alvarez who, like Rogers, has been linked with a move to Arsenal, certainly provides that, as well as so much more. An unbelievably versatile profile that can play anywhere across the attack, who averages over 15 for the 5 attributes mentioned as the DNA of the team, he could add some serious star power to support Saka at the top end of the pitch. Just when I thought it couldn't get any better, I see he also has the plays one-twos trait! It is a major fee, but when considering the cost recouped from Jesus moving the other way, and Gyökeres moving to the other side of Madrid already, it doesn't eat as big of a chunk out of this season's budget as you might think.

With these 3 signings over the line, I had a thought to modify my usual views on the squad, player database and shortlist screens to include the 5 attributes mentioned repeatedly in this post. This will give me a nice quick way to evaluate players at a glance. Here we can clearly see the players in the squad that fit our identity down to a tee. Ødegaard, Saka and Eze lead the way in this regard, with Alvarez, Nwaneri and Rogers not far behind.


I have gotten to the end of this post without making any jokes or sarcastic remarks about Fergie's managerial prodigies. Whoops! Maybe I'm just worried that our 3 open play goals today against Sunderland might cause one of them to complement our football in real life, rendering this endeavour pointless and making me look quite the fool.