An awful lot of uncertainty remains for a club that has been one of the most active so far this summer, and those at Arsenal will know that much can still happen in the next 45 days.
Although it's been an encouraging start to the window by the Gunners, bringing in the likes of Gabriel Jesus and Fabio Vieira with Oleksandr Zinchenko possibly on the way, the main obstacle has been the inability to offload players. It's an issue that we are all too familiar with, although there will be hope that progress can be made in the coming weeks.
As many as seven first-team players are believed to be free to leave should suitable offers arrive, they include Bernd Leno, Hector Bellerin, Pablo Mari, Lucas Torreira and Nicolas Pepe. However, despite Leno being the closest to a departure, no agreements have been found at this moment in time.
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With striker, attacking midfield and goalkeeper already bolstered for Mikel Arteta, focus has now turned to defence and that's where Zinchenko comes in. According to various reports, a £30m deal has been agreed with Manchester City and now discussions over personal terms are said to be taking place.
With signing number five likely on the way, it hasn't taken long for speculation to grow on where Arsenal could strengthen next after Arteta hinted at more business. "We're still hoping to improve the team and make a few more changes," he said. "But again, the market will dictate our capacity to do this."
It's believed wing and central midfield are areas of interest for the Arsenal boss and technical director Edu, but reports suggest they are prepared to wait until the situations surrounding some of their own players become clearer. Out wide, for example, Pepe remains and it could be viewed as a risk to sign someone else in that position considering there's no imminent indication he will leave.
Meanwhile, in central midfield, Torreira is back from a season-long loan at Fiorentina and with the squad in America. He too is waiting for his future to be resolved, with an exit seemingly a little closer after his agent confirmed the player has an agreement in place with Valencia.
This could indicate that central midfield will be the next area of focus and the latest name to be linked certainly backs that up. Tuttomercatoweb reports that Arsenal have 'reignited' their interest in Juventus midfielder Arthur Melo after a deal to land him in January failed to materialise.
The Serie A side acquired Arthur two years ago in a deal worth around £66m, but a lack of game time has left the Brazilian keen to leave. Although some may say that it's reassuring to know that Arsenal remain on the lookout for new additions in this particular position, others may not like the idea of going from Youri Tielemans and Lucas Paqueta to a player who the club decided against signing just a few months ago.
With this in mind, any move for the 25-year-old would only make sense if the pursuits of the aforementioned Tielemans and Paqueta prove unsuccessful in the coming days and weeks. Both would represent significant upgrades to the squad and are more likely to take the team to another level moving forwards.
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