Arsenal: Assessing the summer transfer window

Arsenal’s summer transfer window came to a close on Thursday. Here, I assess all of the business the club completed as Unai Emery looks to rebuild the squad.

Well, it is all over. After months of trials and tribulations, strange rumour and conjecture, trips to the United States and China, if Yannick Carrasco ever was a serious consideration, Arsenal ended their summer transfer window on Thursday. And boy did they end with it with a flurry.

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Two deadline-day deals to bolster the defence, left-back Kieran Tierney arriving in a £25 million move from Celtic and David Luiz following soon after from Chelsea for £8 million, and then a blockbuster, last-gasp £40 million sale, Alex Iwobi moving to Everton after the Toffees accepted that Wilfried Zaha would not be possible. But how did head of football Raul Sanllehi and his pesky transfer men do throughout the summer? Here, I delve into their business.

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It started slowly. Not only were there no arrivals to get excited about; there were no sales from a bloated squad that underperformed and was overpaid. It took until mid-late July for any real action to come. But then, gradually, the business started to roll in. Gabriel Martinelli was the first to be unveiled in a £6 million deal. Then William Saliba arrived in a £27 million, although he wouldn’t be around for another year. These two deals were nice, showing signs that the club was planning for the future, but neither provide improvements in the present.

So Sanllehi decided to step up his recruitment a notch. Dani Ceballos signed on a savvy season-long loan, the Spaniard a clear replacement for Aaron Ramsey without ravaging the measly £45 million budget. And then finally, the blockbuster, Nicolas Pepe, a £72 million, club-record deal to solve the painfully needy wide position. That brings us to the present day and the last-gasp defensive reinforcements. Suddenly, this team looks ready to compete.

Amid all of this seemingly haphazard but ultimately successful recruitment were several clever sales. Laurent Koscielny wanted out so Arsenal got £4 million for him. David Ospina fetched £3 million, as did left-back Dominic Thompson who has never played a competitive match for the club. Krystian Bielik brought in £10 million, Takuma Asano was sold for £1 million, and finally, Iwobi was allowed to leave in a £40 million deal to balance the books.

All in all, the Gunners earned over £60 million in sales. They also shipped out some serious earners in Koscielny, Aaron Ramsey, Danny Welbeck and Petr Cech among others, clearing key room from a stretched wage budget. In total, they spent £130 million, a net spend of around £70 million. But of that £130 million, less than £50 million will be paid this summer. Sanllehi just about remained within the £45 million budget.

To summarise, then, Arsenal solved their wing and left-back positions, signed long-term and short-term centre-back answers, while also got creative to succeed Ramsey in the middle of the park when money was tight. Throw in a lottery ticket in Martinelli and it would be fair to say that this was an excellent summer, regardless of the financial restrictions they were working within.

Could Arsenal have had a better summer? Yes, of course. They might have been able to ship some more high earners. They could have signed a more convincing immediate centre-half. But given the competitiveness of the market and their financial disadvantages, this really was — in the end — a masterclass of a summer window.