In January 1979, Talbot moved to Arsenal for a fee of £450,000. He went straight into the first team and played for the Gunners in that year's FA Cup final, scoring in a 3–2 victory over Manchester United, the first player for more than 100 years to win the FA Cup with two different teams in consecutive seasons. The following year he set a club record, as an ever-present in Arsenal's marathon 70-match 1979–80 season; the club reached the finals of both the FA Cup and the European Cup Winners' Cup, but lost them both.