Having worked quickly to snap up Leandro Trossard from Brighton, doing the south coast club a favour by ridding them of a wantaway player at such short notice, Arsenal must have thought they were in the drivers seat.
One down, one to go. The Gunners got their man and went back for more. This time it was the standout buy, the one to transform a midfield for a decade. Moises Caicedo.
What transpired in the final week of the transfer window now looks like it has harmed Arsenal's attempt to sign the Ecuadorian rather than posing as a precursor for the summer. They may live to regret their actions.
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Caicedo, 21, is one of many in-demand midfielders in world football and attracted the attention of Chelsea and also Liverpool in the last few months. Manchester United lined up an ambitious summer swoop for him too.
Arsenal's ascent on the Premier League has made them one of the most attractive destinations for any player though, especially young ones. Jorginho, for example, had his heart set on Italy but jumped at a chance to play under Mikel Arteta and to have the opportunity to win the title.
Caicedo appeared to do the same. His social media statement indicated that he was keen on a move. Brighton, the shrew operators that they are, nipped it in the bud though and were unwavering from their stance on the remaining prize asset. Now the chances of bringing the midfielder in have been damaged.
Brighton, having sold Marc Cucurella and Leandro Trossard for close to £100m already in the past eight months, haven't been pushovers in the market. Their owner, Tony Bloom, is a poker player. Perhaps Arsenal shouldn't have tried to play the player. Nicknamed the Lizard, Bloom is not a man for games.
He extracted a club record fee for Cucurella less than a year after signing him for half of the price. Trossard wanted away and Brighton still recouped the best part of £30m for the Belgian. After all that, the Seagulls beat Liverpool twice in the space of three weeks and are still on the up.
When it comes to Caicedo Arsenal entered the market low, offering £55m for his services which was a long way from Brighton's valuation of the player. A number that Bloom and his directors at Brighton come to in private, sharing it with very few people, let alone buying clubs, the Athletic write.
Their revised offer was almost insulting after that and given the late stage of the window, Brighton being under no financial demand to sell and their lack of replacement, put up their guard. football.london understands there wasn't a third bid, Edu and Co knew it was game over.
The issue is that the game may well be a much harder one to play in the summer. Not only will Chelsea be in the mix once more, Liverpool didn't sign a midfielder this window and with six months more of experience under his belt Caicedo's value isn't about to decline. It's a harder market to buy in.
Arsenal do have other options, Jude Bellingham and Declan Rice are both waiting to be snapped up by the same clubs mentioned above plus Real Madrid and Manchester City. There's enough players to go around but if Caicedo is now out of bounds - with Andy Naylor writing that Bloom is unlikely to trust or want to do business with Arsenal in the same way again - then there is suddenly pressure on the Gunners to secure one of the two most sought after midfielders in the world. There's no guarantee.
The Gunners have built up a relationship with Brighton spanning back to buying Ben White, while Arsenal director of football operations Richard Garlick and Paul Barber (Brighton chief executive) have been in close contact before too. Although not a direct falling out, angering Bloom and losing his trust doesn't help the case.
As for Caicedo, like Mykhailo Mudryk changed his mind when Chelsea came calling, he may well be just as enticed by other clubs over the summer. His Ecuador teammate Enner Valencia also doesn't think that things from his side were handled well.
“If he spoke to me before, I would tell him not to publish that message — everything done indoors," the former Premier League striker said.
“Something similar happened to me when I was at West Ham, they didn’t want to let me leave and I didn’t even play, so Chalo (Vargas, his agent) had to go fight with half of England to let me leave.
“The best way is to discuss it with the club. But he did it like this. Surely someone advised him.”
The focus will turn to the summer now. Before that there is a title to win, then the next stages of the Caicedo saga can begin once more.
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