Arsenal's 2024 awards: Best player, most improved & more

2024 was an odd year for Arsenal.

Mikel Arteta's side boasted the best record of any Premier League team across the 12 months, yet finished last season as runners-up to Manchester City and trailed Liverpool (as well as Nottingham Forest) by the end of December 2024.

The Gunners earned their first Champions League knockout round win in 14 years but collected as many trophies as Erik ten Hag's Manchester United (one Community Shield compared to an FA Cup victory).

The highs may not have been as high as the lows were low, but there were still plenty of moments to savour along the circuitous route through 2024.

Best player - William Saliba

While Bukayo Saka's unerring consistency, Martin Odegaard's magical bursts and Gabriel's set-piece prowess are all worthy of recognition, William Saliba has to be considered the standout performer for the Gunners.

For all the attacking talent at Arteta's disposal, his side are unashamedly built on the back of a concrete defensive resolve, with Saliba at its epicentre. The silk-lined Frenchman not only offers the type of imperious presence which leads to universal acclaim from his peers, but makes those around him - chiefly Gabriel - far better.

Most improved player - David Raya

David Raya's start to life between the posts for Arsenal was made infinitely more difficult by his manager. It has long since been forgotten, with Aaron Ramsdale and his Hagrid costume shipped off to Southampton in the summer, but Arteta originally claimed that he would rotate his goalkeepers.

That needless misdirection never really took hold, and Raya initially struggled to make a confident start in front of a fanbase still longing for his likeable predecessor. One memorable Champions League night in March swung the tide.

Raya had already grown in confidence before saving a pair of penalties as Arsenal knocked Porto out of the round of 16 in front of a boiling Emirates atmosphere. The spectre of Ramsdale - who watched the action unfold from the bench - had been purged.

Since then, the Spain international has gone from strength-to-strength, pulling out a string of increasingly acrobatic saves at the start of the current campaign to ensure that Arsenal's season didn't completely derail.

Best young player - Ethan Nwaneri

Ethan Nwaneri's first Premier League start may have arrived in 2025, but the 17-year-old prodigy made a significant impact throughout 2024. Across 17 appearances - most of which were cameo roles in England's top flight - the deft left-footer managed to score four goals.

Such is Nwaneri's undeniable talent - an appreciation of time and space which his teammate Riccardo Calafiori has described as "pure" - that Arteta has had to exert extreme self-restraint to avoid overplaying the teen.

Top scorer - Kai Havertz

"60 million down the drain," or so the chant goes, "Kai Havertz scores again!" Arsenal's often ungainly German, a player whose legs look a little too long and his arms marginally too short for his angular frame, racked up an impressive 21 goals for the Gunners.

While not among Europe's top scorers in 2024, Havertz did narrowly pip Bukayo Saka, who mustered 20. Following close behind on 19 in the league alone is Arsenal's collective set-piece haul.

Best signing - Riccardo Calafiori

2024 has not be an astounding year of recruitment for Arsenal. The Gunners didn't bring in a single senior player during the previous January window and - aside from making David Raya's loan deal permanent - only furnished Arteta's squad with three new recruits last summer.

Raheem Sterling's dire six months are barely worthy of consideration, leaving a straight shootout between Riccardo Calafiori and Mikel Merino.

The two towering figures, snapped up from European sides punching above their weight slightly below the upper echelons of elite continental football, have both had their highs and lows.

Merino notably broke his shoulder during his first training session with the Gunners, yet he only played three fewer minutes than his Italian counterpart, who has struggled with less dramatic injuries during his opening six months in north London. Calafiori just gets the edge. That recognition is almost purely because of his spectacular equaliser in a 2-2 draw with Manchester City back in September, before the defending champions had unravelled.

Best moment - Arsenal sweep past Liverpool

Arsenal hosted Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool for the final time at the start of February. Trailing the league-leading Reds by five points at the time, the Gunners had it all to do at the Emirates. And they did.

Arteta's side outplayed, out-thought and out-worked the visitors. A false-nine tandem of Martin Odegaard and Kai Havertz pulled the lavender shirts apart, leaving the normally imperious pairing of Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate racked with uncertainty and indecision.

Bukayo Saka's opener was cancelled out on the cusp of half-time by an objectively hilarious handball from Gabriel, who somehow conspired to punch Liverpool level, but the Gunners roared back to win 3-1.

The Emirates was euphoric at the final whistle and Odegaard captured the occasion by stealing Stuart MacFarlane's camera to take a picture of the pitch-side photographer. The questionable quality of those shots was the sole negative from a night to remember. "To be honest," Odegaard admitted, "I don't know, it was a bit blurry!"

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