It's two down for Arsenal in the January transfer window - and potentially one to go.
The Gunners may have spent much of the winter pursuing Mykhaylo Mudryk before Chelsea came and gazumped them to the Ukrainian wonderkid's signature, but manager Mikel Arteta will still boast a pair of new players for what's set to be an enthralling second half of the season in North London.
A rapid £27million deal was struck with Brighton to bring in Belgian winger Leandro Trossard as an alternative to Mudryk, before Arsenal won the hotly-contested race to sign Poland international defender Jakub Kiwior from Spezia. Arteta and his recruitment team - led by technical director Edu - have still suffered rejection elsewhere, though, shedding light on their next transfer priority.
Lauded for their commanding display in Sunday's last-gasp 3-2 victory over Manchester United, the Gunners' engine room in midfield has driven them to the top of the Premier League table - but it could malfunction. While captain Martin Odegaard and the resurgent Granit Xhaka are rarely fitness worries, midfield general Thomas Partey's patchy injury record means that Arteta has long been on the lookout for an able deputy.
Late in the most recent summer transfer window, a few months after Partey's absence proved fatal in their failed attempt at qualifying for the Champions League, Arsenal made three bids rising to £25m for Aston Villa's Douglas Luiz. A defensive-minded midfielder who'd briefly worked with Arteta at Manchester City, the Brazilian appeared to be a wise option and attainable.
That's until Villa rejected the move and tied Luiz down to a long-term contract just six weeks after the window slammed shut. When the market reopened this month, the Gunners went after another midfielder in Real Sociedad starlet Martin Zubimendi - only to be met with another frustrating outcome.
A report Spanish radio station Cadena Ser outlines that Arsenal did indeed lodge an offer for Zubimendi, who's also been tipped to join Barcelona, and the lucrative proposal may have triggered his €60m (£52.6m) release clause. Unfortunately for Arteta, the Spanish playmaker is said to have no interest in leaving his boyhood club in the middle of superb season for the Basque outfit.
So, who has Arteta turned to? Links with Leicester City maestro Youri Tielemans have gone quiet, but Corriere dello Sport in Italy claim that the Premier League leaders have emerged as contenders for Leeds United target Weston McKennie. With current club Juventus in financial turmoil, the Gunners could capitalise and secure the 24-year-old American's services for around £20m.
Perhaps Arsenal want to go bolder, though, and there are few bolder options than Declan Rice. Captain of relegation-battling West Ham and out of contract at the end of next season, the England stalwart has been linked with a move across London and would arguably be an upgrade on Partey, or even partner the Ghanaian instead of the more forward-thinking Xhaka.
Although it's unlikely that a move would be possible until the summer, Rice is ready to take the next step after reportedly rejecting three offers of a new deal with West Ham. "One hundred per cent I want to play in the Champions League," the 24-year-old declared as he helped his nation reach the quarter-finals of the World Cup. "For the last two or three years I've been saying that.
"I've been playing consistently well for my club and I feel like I really want to keep pushing. I see my friends here who are playing Champions League and for big trophies. You only get one career and at the end you want to look back at what you’ve won and the biggest games you've played in."
Waiting until the end of the current campaign is a dangerous game, however, as Arteta's men might never stand as good of a chance of winning the title as this year. Debating the predicament which the Emirates hierarchy find themselves in, Gary Neville has already warmed them loud and clear that losing Partey without a capable backup could once again turn out to ravage their season.
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Discussing on Sky Sports who'd be the most damaging player for the Gunners to lose through injury, Neville declared: "If I looked at them now, I think I'd say Partey, having watched them in the three games since Christmas. Honestly, in these three games I've seen live since Christmas I just think he's holding a lot together in terms of the glue between the back four and Odegaard and the strikers."
Arsenal fans would argue that signing someone close to Partey's level in January is nigh on impossible, and Arteta isn't willing to feed off any scraps. "We need to go a step further, we need players that already know what winning feels like and are able to transmit that," the Gunners recently stated.
"The likes of Gabi (Jesus) and Oleksandr (Zinchenko) we brought that to the football club. They are still very young, they don't have that much experience but they are hungry and have the quality to deliver us to the next level."
Getting the right midfielder in would certainly elevate Arteta's team to new heights.
