There was a moment late in the transfer window where it looked as though Mikel Arteta's side could potentially be adding a player in Pedro Neto, who would not just add depth to the Arsenal forward line, but would give them another outlet for goals alongside the hot and firing Gabriel Jesus.
However, despite manager Bruno Lage leaving the door open if the price was right, the north Londoners switched their attentions to a new midfield signing late on in the transfer window. Danilo and other foreign options from different leagues were discussed but it was Douglas Luiz of Aston Villa who was targeted.
Unfortunately, from Edu's perspective, nothing came of the late pursuit as Christian Purslow and the Villa hierarchy stood firm on Transfer Deadline Day.
With midfield options slim amid Thomas Partey, Mohamed Elneny, Granit Xhaka and most recently Martin Odegaard injury worries, manager Arteta will need to hope that his attack can keep on firing to help compensate with issues in midfield.
New signings Jesus and Fabio Vieira have settled in fairly well, with the latter finally showing his potential with an outstanding goal and performance at the Brentford Community Stadium over the weekend.
READ MORE: 'His head is elsewhere' - Arsenal transfer target hints at January move following Edu talks
Nonetheless, was Edu right in the end not to spend £50million plus on Neto? football.london takes a look at just how the former Arsenal target has performed so far in the West Midlands throughout the early part of the 2022/23 campaign.
With 576 Premier League minutes under his spell so far heading into the international break, the 22-year-old has collected no goal contributions at all, mustering a low expected goals rate of 0.7 and expected assists per game prediction of 0.8 currently, as per FBRef.
Additionally, over the first seven games, Neto has only mustered a combined total of 24 Shot Creating Actions (SCA) and Goal Creating Actions (GCA). No wonder Lage had to dip into the emergency free agent market to try and solve this problem with the Diego Costa purchase, following the huge Sasa Kalajdzic injury suffered on his debut.
Whether the Chelsea icon helps elevate Neto's game, just like prime Raul Jimenez did, remains to be seen but the early signs in the new campaign suggest Edu was right to hold off on splashing £50m on Wolves' No. 7 who has been part of a 'brave' team who went toe-to-toe against current champions Man City in their most recent Premier League clash.
"I see good signs, that the most important thing," Lage said post-match after the 3-0 defeat. "There's not too many teams in the world with 10 men that can do what we did against this top team.
"My players brave and confident. We made some mistakes, especially the way we conceded the goals, but with 10 against 11 there was one period where we were very good.
"Especially in the second half, we came with a good mentality to play the game we need to play."
He then added on Neto's performance and his role against the big sides: "The plan was to continue with Ruben as a centre-back to continue with the ball and push the two midfielders more into the game, and continue with Pedro (Neto) and Guedes to push the line of four."
Of course, if the player in question's output was to improve over the season, Edu and the rest of the Arsenal board could easily go back in for his signature in the upcoming January transfer window or even next summer. But the calculated decision made against spending £50m on this purchase looks to have been a smart one so far.
Arsenal fans- What have you made of Pedro Neto's start to the new season and was the club right not to fork out the required £50m in the end? Leave your thoughts in the comments section below!
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