Arsenal are on course to enjoy a fine transfer window, acquiring some of Mikel Arteta's top targets as they look to return to the Premier League top four next term.
After wrapping up deals for Brazilian wonderkid Marquinhos and FC Porto playmaker Fabio Vieira in quick succession, back-up goalkeeper Matt Turner swiftly followed. Manchester City forward Gabriel Jesus has completed his medical and the Brazilian is expected to be confirmed as the Gunners new No.9 soon. So far, so good.
The club's plan was then to shift their attention to Jesus' fellow countryman, Leeds United winger Raphinha. It seemed as if talks between the two teams were progressing well and Arsenal harboured confidence a deal was there to be done sooner rather than later.
That was until Chelsea entered the fold.
The Blues have long been the scourge of the Gunners when it comes to transfers. Whether it is prying Ashley Cole away from North London all the way back in 2006, or offloading a plethora of players past their best to Arsenal in the likes of Petr Cech, David Luiz and Willian - Chelsea have seemingly had the upper hand in the past 15 years or so.
That trend looks set to continue after Arsenal's attempts to entice Raphinha to north London were hijacked by their west London rivals. News broke on Tuesday evening that Chelsea had agreed a transfer fee with Leeds and were already discussing personal terms with the player to add him to Thomas Tuchel's fold.
Arsenal had already bid once, an offer that was swiftly rejected after it is thought to have fallen well below Leeds valuation of their player. It appears that Chelsea were simply willing to pay a fee in which Arsenal were not, a figure around £65million including future add-ons.
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But missing out on Raphinha is not the only transfer saga in which the Gunners could end up missing out this summer.
Arteta's side have long been touted to be eyeing a move for Leicester midfielder Youri Tielemans. The Belgium international has just one year left to run on his current deal with the Foxes and has refused to ink new terms as he looks to take the next step in his career.
Since the early exchanges of the transfer window there has been a modicum of interest in Tielemans from several Premier League teams. However, any interest from Arsenal has cooled somewhat as they've pursued other targets. A passing interest in Tielemans remains, but he's not one of those they're most actively pursuing.
Manchester United are another side linked with the midfielder with new boss Erik ten Hag thought to be a keen admirer of the former Anderlecht star. It seems he likes the idea of both Tielemans and Frenkie de Jong lining up in the middle of the park at Old Trafford next term, should United fail to land their primary target to partner the Dutchman, Christian Eriksen.
Arsenal may well be left kicking themselves over the fact they devoted time and effort to land Raphinha only to miss out. They may not have been so keen on Tielemans, but if he ends up strengthening a top four rival and making a difference in 2022-23, then questions will be asked about why they didn't follow through to solve a midfield issue that has been there for some time.
