Arsenal ended a 22-year wait for the Premier League title on May 24, beating Crystal Palace 2-1 at Selhurst Park and goals from Gabriel Jesus and Noni Madueke did the job. The party that followed was a week in the making, and it arrived in full on Sunday when the open-top buses rolled through Islington.
But if one moment from the parade captured the mood of this Arsenal season better than any other, it was not a player holding the trophy or the manager punching the air, but the co- chairman Josh Kroenke, unzipping his jacket on the bus to reveal a fan-made “Step Brothers” t-shirt, the viral design featuring Gabriel Magalhães and William Saliba posed in matching argyle sweaters, recreating the famous movie poster.
Josh Kroenke’s stocks have massively risen over the last couple of seasons and his involvement lately has been noticed by fans.
Arsenal fans feel like, in Josh, they have an owner properly invested in the club, emotionally as well as financially.
Now coming back to the shirt, it has been a fixture in the Arsenal fan community for years, born out of the centre-back partnership that quietly became the foundation of everything Mikel Arteta built.
Gabriel and Saliba have played together at the heart of Arsenal’s defence since the 2022-23 season and so, what started as a meme, two defenders who looked eerily alike, inseparable on the pitch, dominant in the air, became merchandise, and now a cultural shorthand for the team’s identity.
The design quickly spread across fan forums, matchday crowds and social media until it became one of the most recognisable pieces of unofficial football apparel in the Premier League and for Kroenke to wear it on the parade bus was not just a crowd-pleasing gesture, but a sign that he understood exactly what this title meant and where it came from.
Arsenal’s 2025-26 season was not built on a superstar striker or a single moment of individual brilliance but was built on a defensive structure so consistent that it held together even collapsing Liverpool’s title defence around them and Gabriel and Saliba were the spine of that structure.
The partnership’s numbers across the season underlined why the shirt exists in the first place. Arsenal conceded the fewest goals in the Premier League, finished with 85 points, and won 26 of their 38 league games and none of that happens without the two centre-backs operating as a single unit, reading each other’s positions, covering space, organising the press from the back.
While Arteta has spoken repeatedly about their importance to the system, the fans just found a funnier way to say it. For fans wanting to get their hands on one, the shirt is widely available across several platforms.
Josh Kroenke rocking that viral Gabriel and Saliba “Step Brothers” tee today was legendary. He’s a proper one 😍❤️
— Gooner Chris (@ArsenalN7) May 31, 2026
The most popular version, featuring Gabriel and Saliba in the argyle sweater “Step Brothers” poster format, is listed on Etsy at £26 and is currently a bestseller on the platform, and comes in multiple colours including black, white, navy and charcoal.
For those looking at alternatives, Redbubble and Viralstyle both carry versions of the same design, with prices ranging between £20 and £35 depending on the style and platform. Redbubble’s listing covers a wider range of formats beyond the standard t-shirt with hoodies, long sleeves, and tank tops all being available.
Given the spike in interest since Sunday, Viralstyle is currently running a limited-edition version specifically referencing Kroenke wearing the shirt at the parade as well.
Twenty-two years is a long time. The last Arsenal title came in 2004, the Invincibles season, a standard so unreachable it became a burden. This squad ended that drought, won the league, and did it all in style. And that is enough.
Josh Kroenke really is just one of us. Proper supporter. Proper owner. ❤️
— now.arsenal (@now_arsenaI) May 31, 2026
