Despite missing out on a deal for Mykhailo Mudryk, Arsenal still have enough time to continue a January transfer window trend under Mikel Arteta.
A week ago it seemed like the 22-year-old was Emirates Stadium bound. In fact, by the close of play last Friday, the Gunners were edging closer to signing the Ukraine international as negotiations with Shakthar Donetsk were finally heading in the right direction following two bids that had been rejected.
As a result, it seemed for a change that Arteta was on the verge of his wish to get a signing through the doors early-ish in a January window being granted having seen what effect Arsenal's summer business had on their pre-season which has been the catalyst for a Premier League title pursuit.
READ MORE: Mikel Arteta's next Arsenal transfer priority is set after Mykhailo Mudryk blow
"We knew the importance of getting players early in the summer and that is the same we want to do in January," the Spaniard said ahead of the Boxing Day win over West Ham. "This is idealistic. Sometimes it is not realistic. But obviously, if you ask my opinion, as quick as possible we want the players in to get settled."
However, in a stunning turn of events over the weekend, Chelsea hijacked Arsenal's deal for Mudryk on Saturday before unveiling the winger to supporters at Stamford Bridge less than 24 hours later, leaving Arteta to issue a rallying cry when asked about missing out on his number one transfer target.
"We have excellent players and we want to improve our squad in this transfer window – when I say we I mean, myself, the coaching staff, the staff players, the board and the ownership – we all want to do that," the Spaniard said after his side beat Tottenham Hotspur in the North London Derby. "But we will do the deals we can do and the ones we feel are right for the club."
Now, the good news in an attempt to soften the blow of being gazumped by Chelsea for Mudryk is that reports claim the Gunners will now look to pivot to alternative forwards targets. Although, despite the rumour mill linking the club with the likes of Raphinha and Leandro Trossard, no concrete name has emerged just yet.
And with just over two weeks until deadline day, the question is will there be an addition - or two - to the Arsenal first-team squad before the January transfer window closes?
History indicates that will indeed be the case. Since being appointed, initially as the Arsenal head coach in December 2019, Arteta has overseen three January transfer windows in full and all five deals for the senior players he has signed have been completed with around 10 days to go until deadline day.
His first signing was Pablo Mari who joined on loan from Flamengo on January 29 and two days later Cedric Soares arrived. The following year saw Mat Ryan and Martin Odegaard complete loan deals on January 22 and January 27 respectively, whilst the signing of Auston Trusty on deadline day last year came out of the blue.
So all things considered, the Gunners are still on course to complete a deal for a Mudryk alternative, thus giving supporters reasons to be calm about Arteta and sporting director Edu moving on to plan b, although, unless there's movement between now and Thursday, it may not come to fruition until the end of the month.
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