The 2016–17 season was Arsenal's 25th in the Premier League, their 91st consecutive season in the top flight of English football and their 100th season in the top flight overall. The club participated in the Premier League, FA Cup, EFL Cup and the UEFA Champions League.
In the league, despite being in the title race in the first half of the season, their form collapsed in the second half of the season, with Arsenal finishing outside the top four of the Premier League for the first time since the 1995–96 season. In Europe, despite topping their group, Bayern Munich inflicted Arsenal's heaviest defeat in a two-legged European tie with a 10–2 aggregate defeat, with increasing criticism towards manager Arsène Wenger, as well as calls for change within the Arsenal hierarchy. Despite the loss of form and heavy fan disapproval towards the end of the season, Arsenal won the FA Cup for a record 13th time, beating Chelsea 2–1 in the final. The victory saw manager Arsène Wenger become the most successful manager in FA Cup history with seven wins.
The season covers the period from 1 July 2016 to 30 June 2017.
Review
Pre-season Arsenal made its first summer signing prior to start of the current season on 25 May, with the acquisition of Swiss midfielder Granit Xhaka for a reported £30 million fee. Xhaka's involvement in UEFA Euro 2016 and his subsequent desire to secure his club future beforehand enabled Arsenal to uncharacteristically complete a signing before the formal opening of the transfer window. In the following weeks, the Gunners activated the release clause of Leicester City forward Jamie Vardy. However, they failed in their attempts to bring Vardy from the Premier League champions, with the England forward instead opting to sign a contract extension with the East Midlands club. Manager Arsène Wenger came under fire for failing to secure the transfer, and fans were outraged further when Arsenal signed young forward Takuma Asano from Sanfrecce Hiroshima, due to the relative unproven nature of the forward's capabilities. Arsenal made its third summer signing on 22 July, signing Bolton Wanderers' Player of the Year Rob Holding. He joined for a reported £2 million fee from the League One side. Arsenal played Lens later that day in their first pre-season game, with a late chipped goal from Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain earning Arsenal a hard-fought 1–1 draw. Arsenal then flew out to California for two more pre-season fixtures, against the MLS All-Stars and Chivas Guadalajara. Wenger would state that Per Mertesacker would not be on the tour, after picking up an injury against Lens. He would later confirm that Mertesacker had surgery in his native Germany, and would be out for "months". Arsenal beat the All Stars 2–1 on 28 July (July 29 BST), with a Joel Campbell penalty and a Chuba Akpom close-range finish coming either side of a goal from Didier Drogba. Arsenal concluded their tour on 31 July (1 August BST) with a 3–1 win over Chivas. Oxlade-Chamberlain and Akpom scored their second pre-season goals each, with the opener scored by Holding. Wenger confirmed that the injury to Mertesacker meant he'd need to sign a replacement ideally before the season's opener against Liverpool on 14 August, as talks of incoming transfers intensified.
August
Despite the absence of key players, Wenger gave positive news ahead of a trip to Scandinavia; Alexis Sánchez and Aaron Ramsey would join the team for the tour and would likely be fit for the season's opener against Liverpool. Gabriel also returned after missing the US tour with tonsillitis. Arsenal's pre-season continued in Norway, against Viking FK. The Gunners were 8–0 winners; Joel Campbell continued his pre-season form with a double, while Chuba Akpom added his third goal in as many pre-season games. Alex Iwobi also scored a late double, with the remaining goals coming from Theo Walcott, Santi Cazorla (although the Spaniard missed a third-minute penalty), and an own goal from defender Michael Haukås. In a post match interview, Wenger confirmed that Mesut Özil, Laurent Koscielny and Olivier Giroud would not be fit for the game against Liverpool in nine days, with the trio returning to training on 8 August due to their extended exploits at Euro 2016. He stated that Jack Wilshere would be in training after a knee injury, but he could also miss the opening game, and that Mertesacker would not be available for four months. Arsenal concluded their pre-season with a 3–2 win over Manchester City. Akpom scored for the fourth game running, while Walcott and Iwobi scored for the second successive game. Sergio Agüero and Kelechi Iheanacho scored either side of the Arsenal goals. The game ended on a sour note, however, with Gabriel sustaining a serious injury. The Brazilian was stretchered off, meaning Arsenal was left with Koscielny acting as the club's only available senior centre-back. Wenger's pre-match press conference ahead of the opening day clash with Liverpool was that Gabriel would be back by October, and that Carl Jenkinson (returning from a loan at West Ham United) would be fit in November after a knee injury suffered on loan in January.
Similar to last season, Arsenal could not carry on its pre-season form when the league season started. Despite goals from Walcott, Oxlade-Chamberlain and Calum Chambers, Arsenal lost 4–3 at home to Liverpool. The club's opening day defeat was the second in succession, and the third in four years (after defeats to Aston Villa and West Ham in 2013–14 and 2015–16, respectively). Walcott gave Arsenal the lead after missing a penalty, but a Philippe Coutinho free-kick drew the sides level before half-time. An Adam Lallana finish, a second for Coutinho, and a goal for debutant Sadio Mané saw Arsenal go behind 4–1 after 63 minutes. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain pulled one back with a solo finish, and Calum Chambers headed in a Cazorla free kick. However, the Gunners failed to force a fourth in the final 15 minutes. Arsenal also had Ramsey limp off, making him Arsenal's fifth injured player in the senior team, alongside Jenkinson, Gabriel, Mertesacker and Danny Welbeck. Xhaka and Holding were given their debuts; Xhaka came off the bench in the second half, while the latter started alongside Chambers in defence.
Arsenal went to the King Power Stadium on the second matchday, facing champions Leicester City. Both teams were aiming to bounce back from opening-weekend losses, and while both squads had opportunities of their own, Arsenal enjoyed the better of the first half, with Oxlade-Chamberlain shooting narrowly wide. Despite various attacking exploits from either side in both halves, neither could not find a breakthrough in a fiercely-contested game, as it concluded 0–0. The result left the Gunners 12th, with one point from their first two games. Arsenal would then travel away to Watford, with both sides aiming to achieve their first wins of the campaign, after sustaining a defeat and a draw from the opening two league matches. Arsenal would gain the lead after Cazorla converted a penalty following a challenge from Nordin Amrabat on Sánchez, who would later score from a Walcott cross. Özil clinched Arsenal's third on the stroke of half-time, heading in from Sánchez's crisp pass into the box. Roberto Pereyra would also score for the Hornets on his debut midway through the second half, as Arsenal won 3–1. Arsenal would then announce the signings of Lucas Pérez on 28 August, with the forward joining from Deportivo de La Coruña after the Gunners activated the Spaniard's reported £17.1 million release clause. The deal proceeded Arsenal confirming the signing of German defender Shkodran Mustafi from Valencia on 30 August. Mustafi joined the Gunners for £35 million, making him the club's joint second most expensive player, with him commanding the same fee as Sánchez three seasons prior.
September Following the international break, Arsenal resumed their Premier League campaign with a hard-fought 2–1 home victory over Southampton. Despite an unfortunate own goal by Petr Čech, the Gunners responded with two unanswered goals to ensure the win. In the first half, Laurent Koscielny equalised through a bicycle kick whilst Santi Cazorla struck a penalty in the dying minutes of the match to lead Arsenal to victory. Furthermore, the match saw the debuts of Shkodran Mustafi and Lucas Pérez, with the former making the most clearances and interceptions in the match. Arsenal would begin its 19th consecutive season in the UEFA Champions League three days later with a 1–1 away draw against Paris Saint-Germain. Despite going behind after 42 seconds following an Edinson Cavani header, Arsenal bounced back in the latter stages of the game, with Alexis Sánchez rifling in Arsenal's first shot on target. Olivier Giroud, who was brought on as a substitute, picked up two yellow cards in his 27 minutes, thus causing him to miss the home match against Basel on 28 September. Arsenal would then travel to newly promoted Hull City on 17 September. The Gunners took the lead through Sánchez, who deflected in Alex Iwobi's shot. Sánchez had a penalty saved before half time after a handball by Jake Livermore, who received a red card as a result. In the second half, Arsenal went 2–0 up through a Theo Walcott chip before Hull got a goal back, with Robert Snodgrass converting his penalty when Čech took down Dieumerci Mbokani. Sánchez got his second goal of the game with four minutes later, to restore the two-goal lead. Substitute Granit Xhaka scored his first goal in the last minute of stoppage time, with his 25-yard drive wrapping up a 4–1 win.
The club's next match saw Arsenal kick off their EFL Cup campaign away to Nottingham Forest. Xhaka opened the scoring with his second long range goal in the space of a week, and new signing Pérez scored a double before Oxlade-Chamberlain scored in stoppage time as Arsenal won 4–0, with Nicklas Bendtner making his first competitive appearance against his former side (having played an Emirates Cup friendly a year prior with VfL Wolfsburg). Arsenal were then drawn at home to Reading in the fourth round of the competition. Arsenal's next game saw them host Chelsea, a team the club had not beaten in the League since 2011. Arsenal ran riot in the first half, with Sánchez, Walcott and Mesut Özil all finding the back of the net. The half time score of 3–0 remained unchanged at the final whistle. Arsenal's final game of September saw them host Basel in the Champions League, which was the first ever meeting between the clubs in European competition. Xhaka started against the team he began his career with, and also faced his brother Taulant for the first time in club football while Mohamed Elneny was also brought on as a substitute against his former side. Walcott scored a first half double, with a brace in assists from Sánchez, securing a 2–0 win.
October