2022-23 Topps Chrome UEFA Club Competitions: The Arsenal Refractor Guide

Topps’ Chrome UEFA Club Competitions is where the refractor chase lives. The base Topps UEFA set is paper; Chrome is the chromium-stock version with the mirror shine and the numbered parallel ladder — the release Arsenal collectors reach for when they want the version of a card that catches the light. The 2022-23 issue is a natural target: it’s the Chrome home for the Arsenal side of the season before the Gunners’ Champions League return — Arsenal played in the Europa League in 2022-23 and only returned to the Champions League in 2023-24, which is exactly why Topps’ “UEFA Club Competitions” branding matters (it covers the Champions League, Europa League and Conference League on one licence). Its Gunners run is deep enough to build around. This is the refractor-chase companion to our 2025-26 Topps UEFA Club Competitions buyer’s guide and the evergreen Topps UEFA Champions League overview.

The Arsenal names that carry the Chrome set

Bukayo Saka (base #25) is the headline Gunner and the card that anchors Arsenal demand across the whole ladder — England’s star winger, whose base Refractor is the entry point and whose numbered colors are the real chase. His hub: Bukayo Saka cards.

Martin Ødegaard (base #88), the captain and creative hub, is the other pillar — a Norway international whose Chrome refractors are the collector’s target when you want the captain’s version with the shine. See Martin Ødegaard cards.

Gabriel Martinelli (base #57) is the value winger of the group — a Brazil international with the ceiling and the fanbase, and Chrome copies that trade below Saka’s despite the same upside. He rounds out the attacking modern core.

Takehiro Tomiyasu (base #45) is the affordable role-player pickup — a squad favorite whose Chrome singles are the cheap way into the set, and exactly the kind of card that fills out a team build without stretching the budget.

How the refractor ladder works

This is the part worth learning once, because it’s the language on every Chrome listing. Every base card has a Chrome version, and above that sits a parallel ladder:

• Base Refractor — the entry point; the standard refractor shine, unnumbered.
• Colored refractors — a run of colors that climbs in scarcity, first as unnumbered variants and then into serial-numbered tiers.
• Numbered colored refractors — the serial-numbered colors, with Gold the well-known /50 tier, climbing to the scarcest single-color prints.
• SuperFractor 1/1 and printing plates — the true one-of-ones at the top of the ladder.

The exact colors and print-run tiers shift between years and between the base, Chrome and regional configurations, so read the back of the card and the listing rather than assuming last year’s ladder carries over. The durable rule: on the same player, scarcer and lower-numbered is the premium, and a clean centered refractor beats an off-center one every time — Chrome shows edge wear and centering harder than paper does.

A note on card numbers

Card numbers differ between the paper base set and the Chrome checklist, so match the exact set name and number when you buy a single — a “#25 Saka” from base Topps UEFA is not the same card as the Chrome #25. The numbers above are the 2022-23 Chrome UEFA Club Competitions base numbers; Saka’s card carried into 2023-24 Topps Chrome UEFA at #148, a clean next-year bridge if you’re building a Saka Chrome run rather than a single-year team set. There’s also a Merlin Chrome line (Saka #12) — a separate chromium subset worth knowing if you see it and think it’s the same card; it isn’t.

Shopping it as an Arsenal collector

If you want a specific Arsenal player, buying singles on eBay beats chasing them through sealed Chrome — the odds of pulling any one name, let alone a numbered parallel, are low, and singles let you target exactly the refractor tier and grade you want. Use the rail below for live listings on each of the marquee Gunners and on the numbered-refractor chase; the live auction rails on each player hub show what’s ending soon. If you enjoy the rip, sealed Chrome is a genuinely fun break with a real shot at a refractor hit — just treat it as entertainment, not a targeted way to land one card.

For the wider playbook, see the Arsenal collecting guide and our ranked best Arsenal cards and Arsenal rookie cards lists.

Bottom line

2022-23 Topps Chrome UEFA Club Competitions is the refractor-chase set for a modern Arsenal collection: Saka #25 and Ødegaard #88 headline, Martinelli #57 is the value winger, and Tomiyasu #45 is the affordable way in. Learn the ladder — base Refractor up through the numbered colors to Gold /50 and the 1/1 SuperFractor — buy singles for targeted collecting, sealed for the rip, and grade the refractors that deserve it.