Arsenal fans came into the January transfer window with the expectation that Edu would remain busy throughout the month, in order to help the club propel to a Champions League spot at the end of the season.
The Brazilian was certainly active on the outgoing side of business with the Gunners offloading a total of five players, however, the same cannot be said for the incoming side of transfers.
Fans expected Arsenal to sign a midfielder and a striker, but neither position was strengthened in the winter window, which has caused unrest amongst the majority of supporters.
The Arsenal Way looks at five decisions that defined the north London side’s January transfer window and potentially put the club's top-four hopes in major danger.
1. Dusan Vlahovic failure
Arsenal desperately needed to sign a forward in the January transfer window and they identified Fiorentina striker Dusan Vlahovic as the man they wanted to get.
Edu was pushing hard to sign Vlahovic, football.london understood, but the club could not persuade the Serbian striker to join the club despite him being the number one target.
The Gunners seemed to be chasing the striker for the majority of the transfer window without targeting another player.
When it became clear that he was choosing Juventus over Arsenal, the club seemed to fail to draw up a plan b, meaning the Vlahovic failure had a major say in the north London side’s transfer window.
2. Kroenke met Arteta too late
Mikel Arteta flew to Colorado to meet with Arsenal owner Stan Kroenke, with transfer talks being right at the top of the agenda.
The pair were spotted at an NHL match between Kroenke’s Colorado Avalanche and the Chicago Blackhawks after Arteta was invited as a guest of the Arsenal owner to hold talks over transfers ahead of the January deadline.
However, if these talks had taken place earlier in the window, then Arsenal may have had more plans in place to sign other players if their initial targets were not able to join the club.
3. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s omission
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang had been banished from the first team due to his disciplinary issues that led to a falling out between Arteta and himself.
Before securing his move to Barcelona, the Gabonese international was one of three first-team strikers at the club. Despite Alexandre Lacazette and Eddie Nketiah both looking likely to leave on free deals at the end of the season, they now remain the only natural senior options for Arteta.
Aubameyang’s punishment meant that Arsenal had been left incredibly short in the attacking positions, which could have potentially taken the focus away from signing a midfielder which was also a high priority at the start of the window.
4. Edu and hierarchy disagreements
Arsenal were interested in signing Arthur Melo on loan from Juventus, and it even got to the point where the players’ agent Federico Pastorello had travelled to the English capital to outline his client's desire to join the Gunners, according to Gazzetta dello Sport.
However, a deal was difficult to complete as Juventus needed to find a replacement for the Brazilian, and when this was completed, they demanded an 18-month loan deal to sell Arthur.
While Edu was eventually willing to agree to an 18-month loan move, the Arsenal hierarchy was not according to The Athletic and this ultimately prevented the Gunners from signing a midfielder in the January transfer window.
5. Arsenal’s contract issues
Calum Chambers and Sead Kolasinac’s contracts were set to expire at the end of the season, however, Arsenal let both players leave in January.
Due to their deals coming to an end, it meant that Arsenal lost both players on a free transfer instead of generating any funds.
If they had more time remaining on their contracts then they could have been sold for a fee, adding more funds to use either in January or in the summer. Poor planning yet again.
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