When Erling Haaland crashed home Manchester City's fourth last Wednesday evening set up by second-half substitute Phil Foden the harsh reality of where Arsenal find themselves in their project hit. Despite sitting at the top of the Premier League table for nearly the entire season, the Gunners were humbled by their title rivals at Etihad Stadium which saw the advantage head to Manchester with just under a month remaining of the 2022/23 season.
As was evidenced by a screenshot of BBC pundits that predicted the Premier League's top four at the start of the season, many didn't even consider Arsenal to be in that race. Yet with five games remaining, a spot in next season's Champions League has already been sealed by Mikel Arteta's men.
While that is a superb accomplishment, Arsenal should not bask in that success but instead use it as fuel to strive for more. One way of ensuring that this is a prolonged spell at the top of English football for Arsenal is filling their squad with quality additions in the summer transfer window.
