Forget White and Tomiyasu: Arteta's "genius" has been Arsenal's signing of the season - opinion

Ben White. Takehiro Tomiyasu. Aaron Ramsdale.

All three of Arsenal’s main summer signings have played a major role this season, despite their spending spree being questioned by many around the game before a ball was kicked.

The Gunners’ backline now looks vastly different to last season and these bold moves have paid serious dividends as the north London giants finally find themselves back in the race for a top-four finish.

With three games in hand, Arsenal are merely four points outside of a Champions League qualification spot, which only goes to show the phenomenal work that manager Mikel Arteta and the club’s recruitment team have done, on and off the pitch.

Only four teams have conceded fewer goals than the Gunners (25), who are letting in 1.13 goals per game this term.

The three summer additions rank amongst Arteta’s five best performers of all the players to have started 15 or more games, only going to show how influential they have been this campaign, via WhoScored.

Gabriel and Bukayo Saka are the other two.

However, whilst the likes of White and Tomiyasu have been game-changers in the backline, it could be the influence of another summer arrival that has made the most impact.

Arteta managed to poach set-piece guru Nicolas Jover from Manchester City during the off-season and he’s made a considerable effect in such a short space of time.

Defending corners was a particularly concerning issue under the tenure of Unai Emery and during pre-season, they were regularly leaking goals to set-pieces, putting instant pressure on the Frenchman to make his mark.

They also struggled to score from set-pieces last season.

But now, the Gunners rank amongst top four teams for goals scored from set-pieces (nine), whilst they have