Arsenal technical director Edu and head coach Mikel Arteta could be about to make the same transfer mistake that Arsene Wenger did 12 years ago.
Despite sitting just two points behind fourth-placed Manchester United, the Gunners are yet to make any first-team additions in the January window as Monday night's deadline fast approaches.
Arteta and Edu had been chasing Dusan Vlahovic but as football.london reported earlier this month, the Serbian international preferred a move to one of Serie A's top clubs.
Eventually, Vlahovic sealed a move to Juventus, leaving the north Londoners to scramble for an alternative, with Real Sociedad's Alexander Isak one of many mooted as a potential target.
However, various reports suggest that a move is unlikely as Sociedad are said to be demanding that any potential suitor meet the player's full release clause, which stands at £75.4million - a price that would make him the most expensive player in the club's history.
As the Gunners currently seem unwilling to pay the asking price for the Swedish starlet, they may again end up ruing the decision to avoid strengthening their squad halfway through the season.
Back in January 2010, they sat just three points behind league leaders Chelsea, with a game in hand on the west Londoners, but the only business Wenger opted for was to bring back a 35-year-old Sol Campbell - a decision that cost his side as they finished 11 points behind the Blues come the end of the campaign.
"We are not close to signing anybody at the moment and we are so focused on the game that we forget a little bit to speak about transfers," the Frenchman said at the time.
"We have so many players out that our talks are more focused on 'when is he back, when he is back' and it looks like any player we can get back is like a transfer because we have not seen some players this season - like Walcott, like Bendtner.
"They can be fresh for the second part of the season and they can give us a big push."
Unless Edu decides to make a late push for Isak's services, Arsenal could come to regret a lack of January business again as they bid to end their five-year UEFA Champions League hiatus.
