Arsenal: The best part of the summer transfer window

This week, Josh Kroenke spoke about Arsenal’s transfer policy in the summer window. The best part of the policy, though, is the fact that there is one.

In the end, Arsenal were widely praised for their summer transfer window. While there was a mild panic rippling through the fanbase midway through the window as business looked sparse and the gap to the top four widened, by the close of the window, the club conducted what is largely seen as intelligent, smart business that now puts the squad in a better position to challenge at the sharp end of the Premier League.

Find the latest episode of the Pain in the Arsenal Podcast here — Dani Ceballos, the Best Player in the World

And the early signs have been positive. Dani Ceballos was excellent on Saturday lunchtime, David Luiz also looked solid in his first outing, while Nicolas Pepe has tantalised with some sensual touches in both of his second-half cameos thus far.

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This week, in a wide-ranging interview with BBC Sport’s David Ornstein, Josh Kroenke, son of owner Stan, discussed the work of head of football Raul Sanllehi and his team in the transfer window. Among other things, this is what he had to say regarding the work of the club throughout the past few months:

"“I think we had a very strong summer. We addressed certain areas on the pitch for this season and in the years ahead. We had certain age profiles that we were after. Without Champions League football we weren’t exactly sure, but I encouraged our football operations department to be aggressive and when Arsenal Football Club knocks on a player’s door it’s a different knock.”"

Whatever you might think of the specific players that eventually arrived in north London, whatever you may think about the money spent and where it was invested, and whatever you might think about those that were moved on for their respective fees, the fact that Arsenal seemingly had a clear plan and executed something close to that plan is encouraging in and of itself.

Considering the haphazard, largely panicked transfer business of the club in recent years, the best thing about the transfer policy of this past summer is that there was one. Kroenke did concede that the plans changed significantly as the second half of the Europa League final unfolded, which is a tad concerning — you would expect a professional football club to plan for both qualifying for and failing to qualify for the Champions League. But in the end, there was a clear focus.

Arsenal targetted specific needs of the team, rightly diagnosing the weaknesses of last season’s squad, which could not always have been said of their transfer business. They signed a dribbling winger, two centre-backs, a left-back, and a ball-playing midfielder. They signed players of terrific ages for fair prices with excellent sell-on value. Every move they made ostensibly fit into an overarching strategy.

There is still lots of work to be done to build this team such that it can challenge for the Premier League title. But this summer was extremely encouraging, and not just because of the results, but the fact that there was a clear process behind them. Now, it must simply be replicated, time and time again.