The more things change, the more they stay the same. This a saying that could very well apply to Arsenal during the January transfer window and perhaps why supporters should not panic just yet amid the latest developments surrounding Mykhaylo Mudryk.
Looking at the business that the Gunners have previously completed in a winter window under Mikel Arteta and it's a case of sales being the main priority with the first-team squad being trimmed rather than strengthened. For example, in 2021, Mesut Ozil, Sokratis Papastathopoulos and Shkodran Mustafi mutually terminated their contracts and Matt Macey joined Hibernian.
Furthermore, that same window saw Sead Kolasinac, William Saliba, Ainsley Maitland-Niles and Joe Willock seal loan moves to Schalke, Nice, West Brom and Newcastle United respectively having not played much football, if at all, during the first half of the 2020/21 season.
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Then 12 months ago, six senior players were allowed to leave either permanently or on loan with two notable deals occurring just before and after the window officially closed, with Calum Chambers joining Aston Villa and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang leaving the club by mutual consent.
However, after Arsenal's transfer policy was effectively reset in the summer of 2021 as Arteta and sporting director Edu adopted a new, but ruthless, approach, to overhaul the squad, there is expected to be another shift with regard to how this January transfer window is treated as they prioritise incomings for a change.
Of course, a couple of outgoings can't be ruled out as Marquinhos could do with a loan spell as he's not played much football since the opening two Europa League group phase fixtures and Cedric Soares is courting interest from the likes of Fulham, Bayer Leverkusen and Villarreal.
Although following Arteta's admission that the north London outfit can't afford to "waste any windows still with the squad and the numbers that we have" the two bids for Mudryk that have been rejected by Shakthar Donetsk as well as continued links to Atletico Madrid forward Joao Felix all but confirms where the focus is this month.
Now, having missed the deadline for a new signing to make their debut for the Gunners in Monday's FA Cup third-roud tie away at Oxford United, the next one is for the North London Derby against Tottenham Hotspur on January 15. With that in mind, will there be any new additions to Arteta's matchday squad for that particular fixture?
History indicates that won't be the case. Since being appointed, initially as the Arsenal head coach in December 2019, the Spaniard has overseen three January transfer windows and all five deals for the first-team players he has signed have been completed with around 10 days to go until deadline day.
His first signing was Pablo Mari who joined on loan from Flamengo on January 29, Cedric was next through the door two days later. The following year saw Mat Ryan and Martin Odegaard complete loan deals on January 22 and January 27 respectively, whilst the signing of Auston Trusty at the beginning of 2022 caught many by surprise on deadline day.
So all things considered, Arsenal are still on course to complete a deal for Mudryk and that's despite Chelsea entering the race for his signature but unless there's a breakthrough in negotiations within the next week or so, it's a saga that could drag into the final days of the transfer window which is something Arteta was keen to avoid.
"We knew the importance of getting players early in the summer and that is the same we want to do in January," the Spaniard said ahead of the Boxing Day win over West Ham. "This is idealistic. Sometimes it is not realistic. But obviously, if you ask my opinion, as quick as possible we want the players in to get settled."
Whilst Arsenal's transfer policy for January appears to have changed this time around with the focus on incomings instead of outgoings, as things currently stand, all signs are pointing towards the theme under Arteta of completing deals later in the window continuing.
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