We're into the home straight of the January transfer window and it's been a rather quiet one for Arsenal.
Well, that's in terms of incomings as first-team trio Ainsley Maitland-Niles, Folarin Balogun and Pablo Mari have all been loaned out, whilst Sead Kolasinac has joined Marseille permanently.
Those exits have certainly left Mikel Arteta with a depleted squad and it was a factor during Sunday's goalless draw at home to Burnley with a host of inexperienced youngsters named on the bench.
Now the question is will Arsenal be able to bring in a player or two before the window closes on the 31st as they look to maintain their top-four push in the second half of the season?
football.london understands the Gunners manager still is looking to improve his first-team squad with goalkeeper Matt Turner, a new central midfielder in Arthur Melo as well as a striker in either Dusan Vlahovic, Alexander Isak or Dominic Calvert-Lewin on the radar.
Since being appointed in December 2019, the Spaniard has signed 14 new players in north London whether it be a loan or permanent deal, although moves for the likes of Willian and Alex Runarsson haven't quite worked out.
With that said, a couple more signings could be what the Gunners need to win the top-four battle against Manchester United, West Ham United, Tottenham Hotspur and Wolves.
The January transfer window seems to always come to life during the final week before the deadline, as the Spaniard can confirm after experiencing two of them during his time in charge of Arsenal.
As a result, we've taken a look at the business Arteta has done with the regard to the first-team squad in previous January windows to see what it can tell us about what's in store for Arsenal between now and the 31st.
January 2020
In: Pablo Mari (loan), Cedric (loan)
Out: Emile Smith Rowe (loan to Huddersfield Town), Dinos Mavropanos (loan to Nurnberg)
Very quiet first deadline day for Arteta as moves for Emile Smith Rowe and Dinos Mavropanos were done earlier in the window leaving him to complete loan deals for Pablo Mari and Cedric Soares in the final two days.
January 2021
In: Mat Ryan (loan), Martin Odegaard (loan)
Out: Sead Kolasinac (loan to Schalke), William Saliba (loan to Nice), Matt Macey (to Hibernian), Mesut Ozil (free to Fenerbahce), Sokratis (free to Olympiacos), Ainsley Maitland-Niles (loan to West Brom), Joe Willock (loan to Newcastle United), Shkodran Mustafi (Free to Schalke)
Arteta and Arsenal technical director Edu's main priority last January was trimming the first-team squad and they mutually terminated the contracts of Sokratis, Mesut Ozil and Shkodran Mustafi to free up space on the wage bill.
Interestingly, it was only after the first two departures when the Gunners made some signings with Mat Ryan and Martin Odgeaard joining on loan within five days of each other.
That then set up a hectic deadline day as Mustafi's exit was confirmed whilst Ainsley Maitland-Niles and Joe Willock joined West Brom and Newcastle United on loan respectively.
Sead Kolasinac and William Saliba joined Schalke and Nice on loan respectively earlier in the window before U23's trio Joseph Olowu, Zech Medley and Matt Smith completed the outgoings on deadline day.
What it tells us?
Under Arteta, there is a theme developing regarding Arsenal's deals in January.
History tells us that the Spaniard has completed 14 deals for first-team players in his two January transfer windows as Arsenal boss, four of which have been incomings.
And with Pablo Mari, Cedric and Odegaard, in particular, all arriving in north London in the final five days of the last two January windows, perhaps that is a sign that there could be one or two new faces at the club before deadline day.
Given Arteta has completed two deals in each of the winter transfer windows he has experienced, maybe Arsenal supporters can soon expect some movement as we are entering the period where historically the Spaniard likes to finalise moves for incoming signings.
There's still plenty of time for Isak and Arthur, for example, to join and perhaps the plan all along was to wait for the final week of the transfer window to get these deals over the line.
In addition, Arteta and Edu have already repeated the same plan from the last two January windows in trimming the first-team squad before adding to it.
Two years ago Smith Rowe and Mavropanos had left temporarily before Pablo Mari and Cedric arrived, whilst a year ago the likes of Ozil, Sokratis and Saliba had all left either permanently or ahead of the Odegaard signing.
This year has seen Maitland-Niles, Pablo Mari, Kolasinac and Balogun depart, and with a week to go until deadline day, is this further proof for Arsenal fans to remain optimistic?
