At the start of the transfer window if you'd outlined the three positions Arsenal needed to strengthen most they would have been central defence, central midfield and out wide. As the clock struck 11pm on January 31st they had achieved exactly that.
Moves for Leandro Trossard and Jakub Kiwior had been completed early in the window, while a late deal to bring in Jorginho from Chelsea had been finalised. On top of that the Gunners had managed to secure a loan that promises Premier League minutes for Albert Sambi Lokonga and an exit for Cedric Soares.
However, as the dust settles on an active January for Arsenal #EduOut has spent much of deadline day trending, and there is a sense of disappointment among sections of the fanbase. Why is that?
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Perhaps the main reason is the awareness of what was on offer. Arsenal had gone into the window with Mykhailo Mudryk as their number one target. Talks had progressed for weeks and appeared to be heading in the right direction until Chelsea came in at the last hour with an £88million bid that blew Arsenal out of the water.
The disappointment was obvious, but having budgeted a certain amount for Mudryk Arsenal acted in a way that they thought was best for the long-term interests of the club just as they had done in negotiations for Lisandro Martinez and plenty of others before that. The Gunners then moved swiftly to secure a deal to bring in Leandro Trossard for an initial £21million from Brighton just days later. While few could argue that the Belgian was their first choice, he is still a proven Premier League goal scorer and the early signs from his two appearances in an Arsenal shirt so far point to it being a shrewd piece of business.
Not long after that came a surprise deal for Jakub Kiwior from Spezia. The Polish international is someone who Mikel Arteta had held conversations with in December, and having played in midfield and on the left of a back three he appears to have all the qualities the Arsenal boss wants in a central defender. Arsenal now have the left-footed centre back to compete with Gabriel that Arteta wanted, and at just £17.5million up front, they have managed to get him for what appears to be a reasonable price.
This lifted the atmosphere among the fanbase following the Mudryk disappointment, but as is customary with the transfer window, the good mood would not last long. As murmurs began to emerge that Mohamed Elneny's knee injury could be something more long-term it became clear that the Gunners were going to need to strengthen in the area.
Their main target quickly emerged as Brighton's Moises Caicedo. Edu submitted two bids for the Ecuador international but Brighton were firm in their stance that he was not for sale despite the player's pleas for a move on social media.
Questions will rightly be asked over the amount of time Arsenal spent pursuing the deal given Brighton's constant affirmations that he was not available for transfer. Up until Monday, the Gunners were still hopeful they could pull of a deal despite being consistently rebuffed and it is this that caused consternation among supporters. Having finally accepted a move for Caicedo was off though they again turned to quickly another of their targets. After making contact on Monday evening a deal was swiftly arranged to bring in Jorginho from Chelsea.
This news of course raised eyebrows from many supporters who have had their fingers burnt by previous deals for 30+ players from west London like Willian and Petr Cech. The fears were that Jorginho could be another to join that hall of infamy. The Italian will always be a player who divides opinion, but at just £12million and on an 18 month contract, his signing could be a crucial one as Arsenal look to become champions. Like Gabriel Jesus and Oleksandr Zinchenko in the summer, Jorginho is a league winner, with vast experience who has been heralded by those at Chelsea for his abilities as a communicator. In terms of back up to Thomas Partey he is probably better than Elneny or Lokonga, and thus leaves the squad in a better place than at the start of the window.
The proof will of course be in the pudding when it comes to how these deals are viewed. If Arsenal go on to win the Premier League then this January will be looked back upon as a success. If they don't then it may be seen as the moment where things started to go wrong. However, after building a squad that has them five points clear at the top of the Premier League, Edu may have earned the right to ask fans not to reserve their judgements for now.
However, as Arteta prepares to challenge for Arsenal's first league title in nearly 20 years, it's interesting to look back on his demands for this January window. “This squad still doesn’t have the luxury of not maximising every single window," he said in his first press conference after the World Cup break. "We have to do that because it’s really important. But then we have to get the right profile, it has to be the right player to take us to the next level.”
In that sense, the signings of Trossard, Kiwior and Jorginho, Arsenal have raised the level of the squad as per their manager's demands. Arteta certainly can't say he hasn't been backed. It's now over to him to try and get the job done.
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