Arsenal: 3 ways to avoid repeating last January transfer window

2. Use the loan market wisely

Denis Suarez was a failure, that much is plain. However, the loan signings of Cedric Soares and Pablo Mari—two experienced heads with clear talent for a lower-than-average wage—show that Mikel Arteta’s management may be more up to snuff. Players of that quality are exactly what we need in order to bolster Arteta’s rebuild.

We’ve seen the pain that can come with players like Dani Ceballos, where a large price tag means a loan won’t be made permanent, despite the obvious fit. The key will be to look for players of quality who won’t demand a massive wage or a massive transfer fee, and those can often be found in places of surplus.

Loaning Daniele Rugani or Merih Demiral from Juventus; maybe Konrad Laimer or Marcel Sabitzer from RB Leipzig; and perhaps a player like Phillip Billing or Lewis Cook from closer afield at Bournemouth, could make the difference between failure and success this summer. They are all players with a bright future, and would fit well into Mikel Arteta’s system.

Loaning would be a stopgap, it’s true, but it is a viable way to provide for positions of need in desperate times such as these. And it’s a far lower-risk proposition than relying on free transfers.

Number 1 is by far the most important.