Arsenal are champions of England again after a 22-year wait, but every player’s journey to this point has been different.
Some have spent their entire careers in north London, others arrived with Premier League winners’ medals already to their name, while a few have sampled non-league football.
These are the stories behind Arsenal’s title-winning squad.
David Raya
Born in Barcelona, Raya left Spain aged 16 to join Blackburn Rovers’ academy in 2012. He spent four months in non-league football, on loan at Conference Premier (now National League) club Southport before establishing himself as Blackburn’s first-choice goalkeeper in 2017/18. He joined Arsenal – initially on loan – from fellow Premier League club Brentford.
David Raya (right) shakes hands with Derby's Johnny Russell in an FA Cup tie while playing for Southport
William Saliba
Frenchman Saliba was coached by Kylian Mbappe’s father at his childhood club, and grew up idolising former Arsenal striker Thierry Henry. He made his Ligue 1 debut for Saint-Etienne aged 17 and signed for Arsenal a year later. Spells on loan at Saint-Etienne, Nice and Marseille followed, before he cemented his Arsenal spot.
Gabriel
Having begun his career in his native Brazil with Avai, Gabriel joined French club Lille aged 19. He spent brief periods on loan at Troyes (France) and Dinamo Zagreb (Croatia), and had begun holding down a regular starting place with Lille in Ligue 1 when Arsenal brought him to London in 2020.
Jurrien Timber
Timber had spent six years in Feyenoord’s youth ranks before he switched to fellow Dutch club Ajax aged 12. He rose the ranks there, first playing for Jong Ajax in the second tier, and then breaking through into Ajax’s Eredivisie team for three seasons. He joined Arsenal in July 2023 but missed pretty much the whole of his first season, having injured himself in the opening match.
Riccardo Calafiori
A youth product of Roma and Italy international from youth level to the senior side, Calafiori made a handful of appearances for the Serie A club before moving to Switzerland where he joined Basel. He spent only one year there before returning to his native Italy with Bologna, but was back on the move again after one season, joining Arsenal last summer.
Riccardo Calafiori in action for Italy Under-15s
Piero Hincapie
Hincapie’s career began in his native Ecuador, although he made only three senior appearances for Independiente del Valle before moving to Argentinian top-tier club Tallares. Just a year later, he headed to Bayer Leverkusen aged 19, and spent four seasons with the German club before embarking on this season’s loan move to Arsenal.
Ben White
A product of Brighton & Hove Albion's academy, White cut his teeth in the different rungs of English football’s ladder, spending seasons on loan at Newport County (League Two), Peterborough United (League One) and Leeds United (Championship). He spent one season in Brighton’s Premier League team, before moving to Arsenal in 2021.
Cristhian Mosquera
Mosquera had spent his entire career at his local club Valencia before heading to Arsenal at the start of the 2025/26 season. Having joined Valencia aged 12, he worked his way through their B side and into their LaLiga first team, where he was a regular for two seasons.
Myles Lewis-Skelly
Lewis-Skelly has only ever known football at Arsenal. He joined the club aged eight, progressing through the academy in the same intake as Ethan Nwaneri, and going on to make his first-team debut four days before his 18th birthday.
Myles Lewis-Skelly signs for Arsenal academy Under-8s with coach Jack Wilshere
Martin Odegaard
One of football’s wonderkids, Odegaard began his career with Norwegian club Stromsgodset and remains Real Madrid’s youngest-ever player, having made his debut for the Spanish giants aged 16 years and five months. He never truly settled there though, spending time on loan at various clubs, including Arsenal, who signed him permanently in 2021 before he became captain.
Declan Rice
Costing a reported fee of £100million from West Ham United in July 2023, Rice is Arsenal’s record signing. Born and raised in London, he was on Chelsea’s books from age seven to 14, before moving to West Ham. There, he made 204 Premier League appearances and became an England regular, having earlier represented the Republic of Ireland.
Martin Zubimendi
Until moving to Arsenal last summer, Zubimendi had spent his entire life in his Basque home city of San Sebastian. He initially played youth football for Antiguoko (the same club that his manager Mikel Arteta started at), before joining Real Sociedad aged 12, working through their C and B teams, and then becoming a regular starter for the La Liga first team.
Christian Norgaard
Although he had spent five seasons in the Danish top flight with Brondby, Norgaard only received international honours once he joined Brentford in 2019, immediately following a six-month spell in Italy with Fiorentina. He helped Brentford gain promotion to the Premier League and switched to Arsenal after six years there.
Max Dowman
Already Arsenal’s second-youngest ever player (15 years and 235 days), Dowman became the club’s youngest Premier League goalscorer this March when he scored against Everton aged 16 years and 73 days. He has been at Arsenal since the age of eight, having begun at his local non-league club Billericay Town.
Watch Dowman's historic goal v Everton
Eberechi Eze
Eze’s return to Arsenal last summer was a poignant moment, having initially been released by the club aged 13. He spent time at Fulham, Reading and Millwall’s academies, before breaking through at Championship club Queens Park Rangers, moving to the Premier League with Crystal Palace, and reuniting with Arsenal.
Viktor Gyokeres
Arsenal are the fourth club Gyokeres has spent time with in English football. He joined Brighton from Swedish top-flight side Brommapojkarna in 2018, but never made a Premier League appearance, instead spending time on loan in the Championship with Swansea City and Coventry City. He subsequently joined Coventry permanently, spent two seasons at Portuguese club Sporting and then moved to Arsenal.
Leandro Trossard
Having spent four successive seasons on loan in Belgium, Trossard broke through into his parent club Genk’s first team and spent three years in the Belgian top tier before heading to the Premier League with Brighton in the summer of 2019. Three-and-a-half seasons later, he moved from the south coast to Arsenal.
Bukayo Saka
Aside from a brief period in Watford’s youth teams, Saka has spent his entire footballing career at Arsenal. He joined the club’s academy aged seven and climbed the ranks, making his first-team debut soon after turning 17 and becoming one of the Premier League’s finest wingers.
Bukayo Saka celebrates scoring a FA Youth Cup goal at Colchester United
Noni Madueke
Madueke spent time in the youth ranks of Crystal Palace and Tottenham Hotspur, before departing his home city of London, signing for PSV Eindhoven and relocating to the Netherlands aged 16. He worked his way through to the first team, but returned to London with Chelsea in 2023 and has remained in the Premier League since, joining Arsenal last summer.
Gabriel Martinelli
Although he had four trials with Manchester United during his early teenage years, Martinelli’s permanent move to England came when he joined Arsenal soon after his 18th birthday. Until that point, he had only played for his local Brazilian lower-league club Ituano.
Mikel Merino
Arsenal are Merino’s second Premier League club, after the midfielder spent one season at Newcastle United in 2017/18. Prior to that, he had played for Spanish club Osasuna and German side Borussia Dortmund, but then spent six seasons at Real Sociedad before returning to England in 2024.
Mikel Merino on the day he signed for Newcastle
Kai Havertz
Havertz first made a name for himself at Bayer Leverkusen, where he spent a decade from the age of 11 climbing the youth ranks and then starring in the Bundesliga. He became Chelsea’s second-most expensive signing when he joined them in 2020, moving across London to Arsenal three years later.
Gabriel Jesus
Jesus has spent almost a decade in the Premier League. Having won the title four times with Manchester City, he moved to Arsenal in the summer of 2022. His career had begun at Brazilian club Palmeiras, whom he joined aged 16 and won the national Serie A title with.