Arsenal: Is summer transfer window always this easy?

It’s not even the end of June and Arsenal have confirmed two signings, have another two in the pipeline, and have addressed four key areas of need. Is it always this easy?

Arsenal have made two official signings already: Bernd Leno from Bayer Leverkusen, which was announced on Tuesday evening, and Stephan Lichtsteiner on a free, whose contract at Juventus had expired. But their work does not stop there.

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The Gunners have other deals very much in the pipeline: Sokratis Papastathopoulos is all done and dusted, Borussia Dortmund just want to delay the deal until July so that it counts against the next financial year; Lucas Torreira will sign from Sampdoria for £26.2 million as the club’s President, Massimo Ferrero, confirmed on Wednesday morning.

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It feels weird. Arsenal have four deals all but completed and it’s not even the end of June. The transfer window didn’t usually open until July 1st — it has opened earlier this year because of the decision to move the deadline to before the start of the near season — and the Gunners have four players seemingly in the bag. I’ll be honest, this competence is a little weird. It’s not usually this easy, is it?

For years, we, as fans, have come accustomed to waiting for the dreadfully hesitant Arsene Wenger to dip his toe into the murky transfer waters. He paces up and down the diving board, peeking over the edge every now and then, only to be scared by the height at which he will tumble. This Arsenal ran to the edge, jumped in the air, somersaulted twice, and are now making quite the splash.

The work of Sven Mislintat as Head of Recruitment and Ivan Gazidis as Chief Executive should be recognised and praised. They have acknowledged the work that needs to be done, highlighted the needs that must be addressed, and then got their heads down and worked extremely efficiently.

Now, efficiency should not be conflated for effectiveness. Just because they have agreed to a lot of deals early in the window does not mean that they have agreed to good deals. There are major reservations to be had regarding every player that has or is set to join the club. They could be wasteful additions.

But in the opinion of Mislintat, Gazidis and others, these are players that will help this team. We have seen in the past Wenger hold the very same opinion with potential targets, only to miss out on them because of his dilly-dallying. This transfer team has not suffered the same flaw. They have been clinical, quick, clean-cut, and, hopefully, successful.

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There will be no deadline-day panic this year. There will be no outfield-less transfer window this year. This is an efficient, well-oiled machine, and it’s remarkably wonderful to witness. It’s not usually this easy, is it?