Arsenal forced to reject striker transfer offers in January

31 days of grueling transfer speculation, conjecture and expectation have come to an end with Arsenal drawing the curtain on the January window without signing a single player.

Well, not exactly true, as Lino Sousa joined from West Brom and Auston Trusty was brought in from Colorado Rapids before being loaned back to the MLS side. Matt Turner hasn’t being completely signed off, but he too will arrive in the summer.

If we’re being honest, the club didn’t actually sign a single player.

The reasons for that boil down to a combination of attainability and unwavering dedication to the recruitment strategy: the profile of player, and crucially character, is of paramount importance and if they can’t be signed money won’t be wasted on lesser alternatives.

Arsenal forced to reject striker transfer offers in January for Alexandre Lacazette & Eddie Nketiah with Aubameyang joining Barcelona

But not bringing anyone in has a knock-on effect as there were players the club couldn’t let go. Arsenal rejected an offer for Eddie Nketiah from Newcastle on deadline day simply because he is one of only two strikers on the books, much-maligned or not. Nketiah will probably move abroad in the summer, meaning no tribunal, therefore will be yet another player departing for free.

He wasn’t alone, either. Arsenal also had to turn down an approach for Alexandre Lacazette.

As per L’Equipe, former club Lyon tried to re-sign the Frenchman before the window closed only for Arsenal to make it clear they had no intention of letting him leave. When his contract runs out in five months’ time Lyon will make their next move. By then he will no longer be an Arsenal player.

Taking a step back to admire the situation, it’s a unique one. Perhaps one that could only have been constructed at one north London football club. In fact, yes, it’s a situation that could only be attributed to one north London club.

Two players who should have already been long gone from the club, Lacazette and Nketiah, both will walk away for free at the end of the season. Arsenal received offers for both and duly turned them down, purely because these two strikers are, in fact, the only two strikers the club have in their squad. The other one, on £350k-per-week, joined Barcelona on a free contract.

You can’t write this. It would make for excellent television were anyone to fancy basing a documentary around the events.

What might be exciting for some, though, is the prospect of Arsenal now needing to sign two centre-forwards in the summer. An entirely new strike force, since Folarin Balogun may well depart on loan again before, hopefully, being a Premier League regular.

But make no bones about it, this is a quite remarkable hole the club have dug for themselves, now at the point where they have to turn down money for players who they will lose for nothing because they literally have nobody else to call upon.

Arsenal Football Club, ladies and gentlemen.