Arsenal: By any measure, January was a failure

The January transfer window is now finished. Arsenal signed just one player, Denis Suarez. By any measure you want, it was a failure.

Arsenal entered the January transfer window wanting to sign three players: a versatile defender, a midfielder and an attacker capable of playing on either wing. In the end, they got just one.

Find the latest episode of the Pain in the Arsenal Podcast here — Man. Utd Madness; Transfer Travesty

Signing Denis Suarez on a six-month loan with a summer option to buy may not seem like a bad deal, and it isn’t when considered in a vacuum, but it would be naive to suggest that his acquisition alone makes this a successful January transfer window for the Gunners. In fact, by any measure you like, this was a complete and utter failure.

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Let me start with the words of Unai Emery. This week, he was asked how many players Arsenal wanted to sign. This is what he said:

"“We were speaking about the possibility of maybe taking three players, but only if they can come here with our conditions, and also if we think they can help us with good performances, better than the players we have here.”"

So Arsenal wanted to sign three players and only ended up with one. Whatever way you want to slice it, that isn’t especially brilliant business. And while the players that they targetted may not have been that popular among the fan base, you cannot argue that they were not liked by the club. All of the players that were pursued this January were actively wanted. Only was eventually signed.

Inter Milan had a completely different evaluation of Ivan Perisic, demanding an obligation to buy in the summer, not a loan. Yannick Carrasco was a brief target at the start and end of the window but the fee was always going to be a problem. Politics played their part between Thomas Tuchel and Paris Saint-Germain regarding a possible Christopher Nkunku deal.

It is not for the want of trying that Arsenal failed to sign more than Suarez. According to David Ornstein, to avoid the obligation to buy in the summer, they were even offering loan deals with an option to buy that came with a penalty fee if they did not take up that option. It is fair to say that the Gunners wanted more than just Suarez, as Emery admitted.

And at the heart of all of this is the growing discontent within the management structures of the club, the breaking down of relationships and impending departure of Sven Mislintat, the Head of Recruitment, and now a severe lack of a rudder to steer the ship forward safely. Not only did the club fail to sign the players they wanted, the people in place actually began to fracture themselves, with arguably the most important piece of the puzzle now gone.

eWhatever way you want to slice it, the January transfer window was a failure for Arsenal. They may have signed the player many wanted. They may have not signed the player/s that many did not want. But what they tried to do, they failed in completing. Throw in the Mislintat departure and this has all been a rather messy month indeed.