Arsenal had one of those transfer windows where nothing went right for them.
It was a busy January for the majority of Premier League clubs as it slammed shut on Monday night.
It is a notoriously challenging period to do business in, however, and the Gunners learned that the hard way.
Mikel Arteta would have been willing to wait until the summer to find a new striker or two, but with the club unexpectedly in touching distance of a top-four place at the halfway stage of the season, it gave them the impetus to twist instead of stick.
The Spaniard insists he was looking at players to "take them to the next level" as a result but for one reason or another several players slipped out of their grasp.
Pierre Emerick-Aubameyang might have not played another game for Arsenal even if he didn't join Barcelona on a free transfer, but his departure means their squad is even more threadbare than it was already was. Alexandre Lacazette and Eddie Nketiah are the only two recognised no.9s at the club and both of them are set to be free agents in the summer.
The Gunners were also looking for a central midfielder, but it's another area they failed to strengthen.
Here are all the players Arsenal missed out on in January and why each deal fell through.
Will Arsenal regret not signing a striker on Deadline Day? Comment below .
Dusan Vlahovic
It's fitting to start with the Serbian given Arsenal spent the majority of the window pursuing him.
The former Fiorentina striker was their number one target right from the get-go with Arsenal willing to break the bank in order to facilitate the move.
The Gunners had no problems meeting Fiorentina's £62m valuation for the 21-year-old, but it was the player's choice to reject Arteta's men in favour of Juventus.
Ultimately, Valhovic was not convinced about Arteta's project and wanted to join a club that is a regular in the Champions League.
The forward also was keen to stay in Italy if he could so when Juve came calling, Arsenal had no chance.
Arthur Melo
Juventus are the common denominator of this window as the Gunners were unable to reach an agreement with midfielder Arthur Melo.
The Italians were having somewhat of an exodus this month with the likes of Dejan Kulusevski and Rodrigo Bentancur joining Tottenham and Aaron Ramsay sealing a loan move to Rangers.
Arthur was definitely available and Arsenal were definitely interested in the Brazilian.
It was looking hopeful at one point after a productive meeting between the player's agent and Edu, with Arthur keen to come on board at the Emirates.
But it collapsed as an agreement could not be reached between the two clubs. Arsenal wanted to take the former Barcelona midfielder on loan for six months, but Juve either wanted an 18-month deal or some form of an option to buy to be included.
This was something Arsenal weren't open to presumably because they were planning to use those funds on their new striker.
Alexander Isak
The Swede emerged as the number one alternative after Vlahovic's move fell through, but it was his price that was his sticking point, as well as the insufficient time they Arsenal had left themselves to negotiate a deal.
The Spanish side held all the cards fully aware of the Gunners' desperation with the clocking winding down until the deadline.
Sociedad were not willing to listen to offers under Isak's £75.4million release clause and Arsenal had a choice to make - take it or leave it.
They choose the latter.
Bruno Guimaraes
Arsenal were linked with the Brazilian for the majority of the window, but their interest turned out to be fairly loose as he made his £40million move to Newcastle.
The Gunners were keeping cash aside for a striker and were looking at loan moves for midfielders, similar to Arthur Melo, instead.
Lyon's preference was to seal a permanent sale for Bruno Guimaraes and when Newcastle entered the frame, Arsenal were not willing to put up a fight as he joined Eddie Howe's men.
Luka Jovic
With Valhovic off the table, Arsenal started looking into short-term solutions to bring in a new striker.
A deal for Luka Jovic had some legs to it until Karim Benzema picked up an injury which meant Carlo Ancelotti wanted to keep him for cover.
The former Eintracht Frankfurt star would have been a perfect fit for Arsenal, but it was ultimately out of their hands as he stayed at Real Madrid.
Alvaro Morata
It had appeared Alvaro Morata was going to be available for another loan move from Atletico Madrid with Juve set to terminate his deal after the arrival of Vlahovic.
The Spaniard was also on the verge of joining Barcelona earlier this month, but a deal collapsed.
Arteta tasked his assistant Miguel Molina with phoning Morata to convince him to join the north Londoners, but that's about as far as it got.
The former Chelsea man made it clear he was not interested in a return to England and that he planned to see out his spell in Turin until the end of the season.
Mehdi Taremi
Arsenal made a last-gasp move to sign Porto's Mehdi Taremi with Arteta running out of options.
It was reported that the Iranian was offered to the Gunners on loan earlier in the window, according to CBS Sports.
The Gunners wanted to know if Taremi was still on the table, but it was too little, too late.
Liverpool's acquisition of Luis Diaz meant the Portugal club didn't want to lose two strikers in the one window and leave themselves short in that position as Jurgen Klopp's men blocked a potential switch to Arsenal.
