Arsenal may have trimmed their wage bill during the January transfer window, but the failure to sign a central midfielder and striker could cost them their top-four hopes.
Technical director Edu had begun the transfer window with his focus on Dusan Vlahovic, a player who was always likely to stay in Italy and told close friends that he wanted to join Juventus, as football.london previously reported.
Talks with representatives of leading European strikers including Jonathan David, Alexander Isak and Dominic Calvert-Lewin were all held, but in the end, nothing came to fruition.
The decision to allow Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to leave on a free transfer didn't come as a surprise as the Gabon international was recently informed by the club that he would not play for Arsenal again.
Aubameyang's departure doesn't change much in Arsenal's attack. Eddie Nketiah was denied a late Premier League exit, while Alexandre Lacazette will leave upon the expiration of his contract this summer.
In midfield, the Gunners are equally as light, with Granit Xhaka, Sambi Lokonga and Mohamed Elneny the club's current only senior first-team central midfielders.
A move for Juventus midfielder Arthur Melo couldn't be agreed due to the Italian side preferring a longer-term loan deal.
Arsenal's first-team squad is down to just 22 players and is set to be even thinner come the summer, with the likes of Elneny, Lacazette and Nketiah all coming to the end of their contracts.
For Arteta and Edu, it was simply a case of preferring to wait until the summer to land their top targets, rather than make stop-gap signings with thinking only for the short-term.
Time will tell as to whether or not that strategy will pay off or not.
