Arsene Wenger says he still retains control of Arsenal’s transfer, but the club need to look at their scouting policies and the type of players they target to buy.

In the last year, the Gunners have undergone an overhaul behind the scenes.

Sven Mislintat, the new head of recruitment, and Raul Sanllehi, head of football relations, are the two biggest new appointments.

Now, suddenly, the club are making massive moves in the transfer market.

Players like Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang seem like they really might join the club.

Arsene Wenger denies anything’s changed in terms of the balance of power. He told a press conference (via Telegraph): “It is no different. Yes [I still have the final say].”

The boss did, however, admit there would be some changes in their aims and policies. He said“We have to revisit the way we structure our club, and our scouting policy.

“You look at world-class players now. Look at Ronaldo, Neymar, Sanchez, their level of financial demands and the level of their costs. You have to go younger and certainly these players are not affordable.

“What is important today is that we are the club that can maybe give them (young players) a chance, more than many other clubs. Modern football has created a kind of game where the best players in the game are grouped to a various small number of clubs.”

The comments are a little odd, considering their timing.

David Ornstein says Arsenal’s move for 20-year-old Malcom is off, but the 28-year-old pair of Aubameyang and Mkhitaryan could still join.

I wouldn’t say that counts as going younger.

As a general point though, you can see what Wenger means. Whatever you think about Arsenal’s financial firepower, £200m men like Neymar are out of reach.

The Gunners have to look at players who haven’t made their big breakthrough yet. Then, they need to act quickly.

Hopefully that’s what they’ve done with Konstantinos Mavropanos. We haven’t seen him in the first team yet, but Arsenal have taken a chance on the Greek defender.

If it pays off, that’s the kind of signing Arsenal can use to compete with the likes of PSG. With any luck, the new head of recruitment will help secure those kinds of transfers, whether Wenger admits it or not.