Arsenal have completed two signings so far in the summer transfer window. They just need to confirm the Matt Turner move officially and are now closing in on a £45m deal for Gabriel Jesus.
But recent history suggests the Gunners are only just getting started and that more deals are likely to follow once moves for the latter pair are completed as a familiar trend since owner Stan Kroenke became the club's sole shareholder back in September 2018 looks set to continue.
This will be fantastic news for Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta as he is set to benefit greatly from plans for yet another big spending spree this summer as he looks to improve a squad in the hope of closing the gap on Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur next season and qualify for the Champions League.
READ MORE: Arsenal's double announcement can hand Gabriel Jesus the perfect gift after £45m summer transfer
In almost three years and nearly eight full transfer windows under the sole ownership of KSE (Kroenke Sports and Entertainment), Arsenal, excluding loans for Dani Ceballos, Denis Suarez, Mat Ryan, Cedric Soares, Pablo Mari and Martin Odegaard, have completed as many as 20 deals for incoming players.
And the money spent on 17 of those players makes for interesting reading. In the summer of 2019, there was an outlay of £138million, with Nicolas Pepe arriving for a club-record fee of £72million in addition to deals for Kieran Tierney (£25m), William Saliba (£27m), David Luiz (£8m) and Gabriel Martinelli (£6m).
Then the following summer saw Gabriel Magalhaes arrive from Lille in a £27m, Pablo Mari signed permanently for £6.8m following his loan spell, and Runar Alex Runarsson complete a £1m transfer from Dijon whilst Kroenke stepped in to help fund Thomas Partey's £45m move from Atletico Madrid for an overall outlay of £79.8m
Then when factoring in last summer's well-documented £150million splurge to sign Aaron Ramsdale, Takehiro Tomiyasu, Benjamin White, Nuno Tavares, Albert Lokonga, and a permanent deal for Odegaard means £350million was spent across the first three summer windows under KSE's ownership.
After seeing his side miss out on a top-four finish by two points last season, Arteta sent a clear message to Stan and his son, Josh, that an aggressive approach to the summer transfer window was required again: "Overall, look back, you have to be clear with what we have to do, but very clear as well that this is not where we want to be," he said in his final pre-match conference of the 2021/22 season. "We want to be in a completely different position, challenging with the top teams. That's the aim. This is not going to stop here.
"This is another step that was very necessary because it wasn't only about where we are in the league table. We have much deeper issues than the club in the league table, in my opinion, that now have been resolved and look very, very strong. Now we have the real strong foundations now to build what we want to do
"We are going to have certain resources. Not unlimited resources, certain resources. With those resources, we have to do what we have to do in the best possible way. We don't know what the rest are going to have in terms of resources, which I assume is going to be challenging because now it's not a top-three, or top-four league, there's a top-eight or ten teams that are involved. That's why we have to find a way to do again what we did last summer."
Now into a fourth summer window, and already £33m has been spent on Marquinhos and Fabio Vieira. This figure will rise to £82m once Gabriel Jesus seals his £45m transfer and the club finally announces Turner's initial £4.5m deal - which is perhaps the worst-kept secret in football.
Those deals could be a clear sign that the Kroenke's are willing to spend at least £100million again in a summer window, and with there still being enough room to match or exceed that total, it may point towards continuing the spending spree after getting Gabriel Jesus and Turner through the door.
With the Gunners heavily linked with moves for Leeds United winger Raphinha and Ajax defender Lisandro Martinez, these are two deals in particular that, if completed before deadline day, will ensure this exciting trend in summer transfer windows under KSE continues.
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