In a quiet transfer window Arsenal have managed to push themselves to the front of the rumour mill.
And that's despite not really doing anything.
Sure the Gunners have managed to shift out the likes of Sead Kolasinac, Pablo Mari, Ainsley Maitland-Niles and young Folarin Balogun to provide their squad with a bit of space to breathe, but it is the incomings on which we all fixate, and for now there haven't been any of those.
But as football fans we often overlook the relationship between the comings and goings.
Real football life isn't like Football Manager, and you can't just stack player after player in your squad without consequences. Well, not without state backing you can't.
Somewhere in a drawer in London Colney there will be a list of Arsenal's expendables, and they will need to be taken off the books if the club want to complete the big deals they desire.
And that's been happening for a year now, as Mikel Arteta has got tough.
Going right the way back to Mesut Ozil, Sokratis and Shkodran Mustafi, Arsenal have shown that they are willing to act decisively to get shot of a player, and that's what they've just done with Kolasinac too.
The money saved on the wages of that quartet will have already been put to use on players Arteta actually wants, and you'll be seeing the same when it comes to the exits of Mohamed Elneny, and probably Alexandre Lacazette, Calum Chambers and Eddie Nketiah in the summer.
But having passed over those fairly simple hurdles to negotiate, it is now time for Arteta, Edu and Arsenal to take the next few steps and tackle the higher, more difficult heights.
With potential transfers for Fiorentina's Dusan Vlahovic and Juventus midfielder Arthur in the pipeline - the latter only a loan, although potentially an 18-month one - the need for the likes of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Granit Xhaka at the club becomes less and less.
The task to remove Aubameyang began some time ago of course, with Arteta perhaps sensing an opportunity to make a mark and add a sizeable amount to the bank for club wages.
Join the debate! Would Arthur be a good signing for Arsenal? Comment with your thoughts below.
The forward is under contract for another 18 months, and so with an Ozil-esque cancellation surely too costly, the need to find a club that will subsidise the Gabonese's vast paycheck for a while at least is a very real one. The transfer fee they receive isn't really that relevant.
Xhaka has a contract until 2024, but as last week's red card at Anfield showed yet again, it really is high time that Arsenal moved on from his often confusing, always chaotic ways. They won't consistently improve until they do.
They could surely find a buyer for him, with Roma interested last summer, and if they act with the type of decisiveness and ruthlessness they have shown in jettisoning players, they could do a deal at a decent price.
It'll all go in the pot, and will all help Arteta continue to shape and mould the team into an outfit that he wants.
Vlahovic and Arthur can be part of that if the Gunners keep on acting the way they have been.
