Regrets? You suspect Douglas Luiz and Emi Buendia might just have a few.
Luiz, who’d had a year left on his contract last summer, saw a string of bids for him from Arsenal vetoed by Aston Villa on Deadline Day. He ended up staying in the Midlands as the Gunners got on with it without him.
EduOut trended, a hashtag directed angrily at the north Londoners’ then-Technical Director, with Arsenal fans at the time turning their fire on the club. Those supporters will have quietly deleted tweets since, given Arsenal’s surge up the table and their refusal to surrender to suggestions that they’d fade out of title contention.
Emi Buendia is another who might just look back in anger. He too was a target for Mikel Arteta in 2021 after being named Championship player of the season with Norwich. Instead of pushing for the move, he chose instead to go to Villa.
He must wonder, looking up at the Gunners now, what might have been. Especially with Martin Odegaard, the man signed by Arsenal instead, carrying all before him. So while there will be obvious disappointment at missing out on Atletico Madrid forward Joao Felix and Shakhtar Donetsk winger Mykhailo Mudryk, Edu and Arteta have every reason to themselves trust in their transfer process so far.
Both men have worked hard to put together a dressing room packed with low-maintenance, level-headed players pulling together in the same direction. If, after flooding his social media platforms with footage of him watching Arsenal, the deal is better for Mudryk at Stamford Bridge then maybe Emirates Stadium really isn’t for him.
Felix, sent off in his first game for Chelsea, won’t be solving the Blues’ striker crisis in games against Liverpool, Fulham and West Ham from the bench. Sometimes, in seasons when it all comes together, luck can play as big a factor as meticulous planning. Clearly, Buendia and Mudryk are good players. Arsenal, however, have done very nicely without them, thank you very much.
What it means for the remainder of the window is interesting. Arteta still needs a marksman, despite the fine contributions of Odegaard, Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Martinelli and Eddie Nketiah, who has defied claims that he was not good enough to fill in for Gabriel Jesus. Title-winning teams possess depth they can call on in those tense, next-goal-wins-it moments in April and May.
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Arsenal still need that. Which is why the likes of 24-year-old Napoli marksman Victor Osimhen could be an option, though with 13 goals in 17 games to shoot to the Napoli top of Serie A and into the knockout stages, he won’t be leaving there without a huge fight. French winger Moussa Diaby, 23, is also an option but Bayer Leverkusen don’t want to sell the 23-year-old midseason. For him, too, it would take an offer Leverkusen simply cannot refuse.
Belgian winger Leandro Trossard, 28, has been offered to a number of clubs, including Arsenal. But with Chelsea also keen and cribbing the Gunners’ homework, it isn’t worth the aggravation. Brazilian former Leeds winger Raphina could be available at the right price - after all the Spanish giants’ efforts to prise him away from Elland Road - but Barca want nine figures for his services. Good luck with that.
Whatever happens, Arteta, Edu and Arsenal are well aware of the need not to panic, particularly given their success at recovering from their transfer setbacks.
