Arsenal 2021/22 season ratings: Saka 9, Odegaard 8, Pepe 3, Aubameyang 2

After three matches, most Arsenal fans would have taken fifth place come the end of the 2021/22 Premier League season. The Gunners were rooted to the bottom of the table with no points and no goals, and a crisis looked to be closing in on Mikel Arteta and his players.

However, context is everything and instead fifth place came with the deflated sense of what might have been. Arsenal were pipped to fourth – and with it the last of the Champions League places – by none other than Tottenham after a late season collapse, which involved a table-turning defeat to their fiercest rivals.

Still, it was a season of progress for Arsenal, who achieved their best league finish in three years and will return to the Europa League after missing out on European football last season as a consequence of placing eighth.

Arteta will also be pleased with how most of his new signings have settled. Goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale and centre-back Ben White have provided upgrades in both positions, and playmaker Martin Odegaard - signed permanently from Real Madrid after spending the second half of last season on loan - has quickly become a key player. Meanwhile, full-back Takehiro Tomiyasu has been a revelation.

The season was also defined by departures as Arteta attempts to shape the club's future. Willian agreed to cancel his contract two years early after struggling to hit the same heights he did at Chelsea, while Hector Bellerin, Lucas Torreira, Ainsley Maitland-Niles, Matteo Guendouzi, and Pablo Mari all secured loan moves away and are not expected to be in Arteta's plans moving forward.

Then there was the January exit of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who was dropped, stripped of the captaincy, and ultimately joined Barcelona on a free transfer