Arsenal future transfer plans revealed

WEST BROMWICH, ENGLAND - AUGUST 25: Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta talks to the media before the Carabao Cup Second Round match between West Bromwich Albion and Arsenal at The Hawthorns on August 25, 2021 in West Bromwich, England. (Photo by Catherine Ivill/Getty Images)
WEST BROMWICH, ENGLAND - AUGUST 25: Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta talks to the media before the Carabao Cup Second Round match between West Bromwich Albion and Arsenal at The Hawthorns on August 25, 2021 in West Bromwich, England. (Photo by Catherine Ivill/Getty Images) /
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Arsenal, Mikel Arteta
Arsenal future transfer window plans revealed as Mikel Arteta eyes further signings to complement his £150m worth of summer arrivals. (Photo by Catherine Ivill/Getty Images) /

Arsenal achieved a lot over the summer transfer window. They were also found lacking in other aspects. Despite a record spend and multiple outgoings, there is still a lot of work left to do.

Splitting the transfer window into two categories, one left plenty to be desired and one hit numerous nails on their respective heads.

In regards to signings, bringing in six players all meeting the strategical plan set out well in advance of the summer constitutes an undoubted degree of success.

Questions will be asked of the fees spent out on English duo Ben White and Aaron Ramsdale, who joined on the expensive transfers we’ve come to expect from internal Premier League transactions. The ‘taxes’ that come with homegrown talent were on show in these instances.

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Arsenal future transfer window plans revealed as Mikel Arteta eyes further signings to complement his £150m worth of summer arrivals

They were nonetheless problem areas for Arsenal and both come at ideal stages of their careers. Able build on their already established qualities while on wages more suited to the club’s finances falls in line with the revised approach.

Nuno Tavares and Albert Sambi Lokonga add depth in previously shallow departments, while Takehiro Tomiyasu and Martin Odegaard are fully expected to be regular fixtures in Mikel Arteta’s lineups for the foreseeable future.

While more could have been done, any further incomings were reliant on movement out of the club. This is where Arsenal faltered, albeit with the heavily discussed mitigation of navigating through a COVID-19 market for players on with qualities and wages that turned potential buyers away. That, and the reality of not being able to complete such a wealth of activity in a single window. Rebuilds simply do not happen all at once.

Yet, were Arsenal to have succeeded in moving on Alexandre Lacazette and Eddie Nketiah then the soon-to-be centre-forward conundrum could have been attacked with more purpose this summer.

That pair will not be here come the end of the season and with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang having one year left on his deal at that stage and Folarin Balogun still very much a work in progress, it’s a situation that will need tackling.

As per The Athletic, the centre-forward slot is set to feature ‘prominently’ in the coming windows as a priority area to explore.

Just like a backup goalkeeper and new No. 10 couldn’t be dallied on in the window just passed, the same applies at No. 9. Tammy Abraham and Lautaro Martinez were two names heavily featured in the headlines near the closing stages of the window but neither are set to be readily available in the months to come with the former joining Roma and the latter closing in on a new deal at Inter.

Striker isn’t the only department that will be looked at, and rightly so.

Continued…