Gone are the days of Arsenal losing their best talent to the biggest clubs. Samir Nasri, Robin van Persie and Cesc Fabregas all made the switch to Manchester City, Manchester United and Barcelona.
Arsene Wenger sold his players off to bring in revenue in response to the switch to the new Emirates Stadium with the club supposedly unable to invest heavily without bringing in financial backing from player sales. As a consequence, Arsenal suffered competitively.
Arsenal have spent huge amounts of money on players in the last half-decade, however, and beyond. Breaking their transfer record with Mesut Ozil, Alexandre Lacazette, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Nicolas Pepe. However, whilst spending has gone up, league position has fallen.
READ MORE: Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Magalhaes deals confirm Mikel Arteta has solved Arsenal’s big issue
The Gunners want to return to the Champions League and one day compete again for titles. Buying smartly but importantly maintaining the best talent will be the only path back.
Therefore, when football.london learned that Gabriel Magalhaes was at the top of Barcelona's list of centre-back targets for the summer, nostalgic alarm bells began to ring. Barca themselves are going through a rebuild after years of mismanagement in the market and squad building.
Arsenal cannot afford to allow their potential European rivals to strip them of their best players. The possible impact on the team moving forwards could again disrupt the progression that Mikel Arteta is trying to achieve.
However, Gabriel has recently conducted an interview in which he poured cold water over a potential move. The Brazilian said that Arsenal was now a ‘home’ to him.
“Well in my first season I certainly learnt a lot,” Gabriel told Premier League Productions via the Evening Standard. “It’s been a real challenge here and I am more and more settled every day. I feel better and better with each passing game. At the same time, we know we all can’t be perfect in every match. We do make mistakes.
“But I feel good, I feel at home at Arsenal. It’s a great squad to be a part of and together I am sure we can achieve a lot. I am very happy here.”
This is good news for Mikel Arteta who will be hoping to keep this group of young talent together to build for the future. The club’s stars have continually spoken about the longevity of the team.
Martin Odegaard spoke during the international break about the youthfulness of the squad and what could be achieved. The Norwegian has been given a new role this season in central midfield and flourished alongside Granit Xhaka and Thomas Partey.
“I think we’re a very, very interesting group: a lot of young players, and a lot of hungry players,” Odegaard said. “I feel like we’re building something special here with all the players and the staff.
This mentality and expression of loyalty will benefit Arsenal contractually. There are suggestions that Gabriel will enter discussions over a new deal in the summer and he will not be the only one.
Gabriel Martinelli, one of the youngest of the team, spoke about his intention to stay at Arsenal forever. Quite a statement coming from a player courted by Liverpool’s Jurgen Klopp in many press conferences.
"We always want more. Of course, Arsenal are a giant team. If I can, I’ll stay here my whole life. I want to conquer things, as I said, I want to stay here and win titles, with these wonderful fans, my teammates."
The current dilemma for Arsenal is that the end of season run-in is looking complicated with the hit to form and injuries to key players. Finishing outside the top four would be disappointing but the potential to slide outside the top six would be disastrous.
The momentum built up with the team needs to be maintained by finishing in the top six at a minimum. Otherwise, the attitude shown by the player could quickly change if greater opportunities can be offered elsewhere.
