Arsenal legend names 'just one' Man United star that gets into Mikel Arteta's team

Feargal Brennan

Arsenal legend names 'just one' Man United star that gets into Mikel Arteta's team image

Arsenal get their 2025/26 Premier League season up and running away at rivals Manchester United.

It's be another big-spending summer for Mikel Arteta, as he looks to mount a genuine title charge in the months ahead, after three successive second place finishes.

Arteta has spent around £187m on new faces in the off-season, including an initial £55m move to bring in Viktor Gyokeres from Sporting CP, to 'solve' Arsenal's striker crisis.

The Sweden international scored a spectacular 97 goals in 102 games in Lisbon and fan confidence is high that he can start with a bang at Old Trafford.

Kepa Arrizabalaga, Martin Zubimendi, Christian Norgaard, Noni Madueke and Cristhian Mosquera have also come in as part of Arteta's latest revamp.

A positive start on the road in Manchester is vital for Arteta, with United also strengthening, despite missing out on European qualification at the end of a dismal 2024/25 campaign.

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Ruben Amorim has landed three new attackers, in Benjamin Sesko, Matheus Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo, but former Arsenal star Lee Dixon is unconvinced that any of them would be good enough for his old team.

The two-time Premier League champion backed Arsenal to start with a win, but claimed there is still only one United player that would command a spot in Arteta's team.

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"I’m struggling to think of a United player that gets into Arsenal's starting XI. Only Bruno Fernandes could lay claim to a spot," he told 10bet.

"You’d have to put Sesko and Gyokeres in the same bracket, because neither has shown what they can do in the Premier League yet. We need to see them here and see how they handle it.

"Sesko could score 10 in the first six, who knows, and then he’d walk into a 'best combined XI' But the standout for United over the years has been Bruno. He’s got match-winning ability.

"We’ve all got an opinion on when he has a strop and throws his arms up, but he's a winner. He’d get in there, but it would be him and him alone."

Arteta has a strong record in his 11 Premier League games against United as Arsenal boss with seven wins, two draws and just two losses.

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Feargal Brennan

Feargal is a content producer for The Sporting News. He has been working with TSN since the start of 2022 after stints with Reach, Amazon UK and Squawka in a nomadic career in the football media pyramid. Always with a keen eye on Arteta's 'Reds' and Kenny's Ireland 'Greens' and a 100% five-a-side penalty record.