Few Arsenal fans would have turned their nose up at being top of the Premier League table after five straight wins and another summer spending spree.
Life is looking rosey for the Gunners in north London at present as Mikel Arteta's new recruits have got them firing on all cylinders with a perfect start to the campaign.
Yet they are now heading into their toughest test so far against Erik ten Hag's re-energised Manchester United side who are on their own three-game winning streak. It comes as Arteta is also juggling several injury issues and having missed out on a deadline day signing to put the cherry on the cake.
Here's the latest Arsenal news...
Arteta's regret
Mikel Arteta has conceded that Arsenal were beaten by the clock as he opened up on the club's failed attempts to strike a deal with Aston Villa for Douglas Luiz on deadline day.
The Gunners had seemingly wrapped up their transfer business well in advance of deadline day after splashing out on big-money deals for the likes of Gabriel Jesus, Oleksandr Zinchenko and Fabio Vieira, but recent injuries to Thomas Partey and Mohamed Elneny have left Arsenal light in midfield.
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As a result, Arsenal tried to entice Aston Villa into doing a deal for Luiz, who has less than a year to run on his current deal and is set to become a free agent next summer.
However, the Londoners were unable to strike an agreement for the former Manchester City midfielder, who netted against the Gunners in Aston Villa's 2-1 defeat at the Emirates just 24 hours earlier.
Read the full story here
Arsenal's "special one"
Arsenal new-boy Oleksandr Zinchenko has heaped praise on teammate Gabriel Martinelli after the Brazilian's impressive start to the season.
Martinelli has been made to work for a starting spot under Mikel Arteta, with the manager accepting in March 2021 that it was his own fault the Brazilian hadn't earned more minutes. The 21-year-old has had a big part to play this season, though, scoring in each of the first two games of the season before delivering a winner against Aston Villa in midweek.
The strike ensured Arsenal have a 100% record going into their weekend game against Manchester United, who are themselves coming off a third straight victory. And Zinchenko, who missed the last two games through injury, has showered his colleague in praise.
Read the full story here
Need for Luiz
While Arteta laments missing on on Douglas Luiz and prepares to juggle an injury crisis, Mirror Football has taken a look at why the Gunners were keen to add the Aston Villa star to their ranks in the first place.
Aside from his goal straight from a corner in Wednesday's clash between the sides, Luiz has plenty of other attributes in his armoury.
As Mirror Football's David Hughes assessed: "It’s easy to see why Luiz was considered such a suitable target from an Arsenal perspective and he ticks many boxes in terms of what they’ve been after.
"Without the ball, he’s robust, reads the game well and tends to illustrate excellent defensive positioning. Only John McGinn from Villa’s midfielders managed more tackles and interceptions on a per 90 basis last season (4.14)."
Read more of the analysis on Luiz here.
