Arsenal made the best out of several bad situations this January transfer window, and with more players moving in and out of the club than any winter in recent memory, this month has felt like a whirlwind.

Lemons and lemonade

The first and most notable lemon was the unceremonious exit of Alexis Sanchez.

After years of (not so subtly) hinting that he wanted to move to Manchester City to inexplicably link up with a manager that had previously deemed him not good enough, the Chilean instead chose to play for the other side of Manchester.

The rift between him and the rest of the dressing room was obvious. Not nearly as many heartfelt goodbyes were publicly wished to him as when Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Francis Coquelin exited despite the success he (at times singlehandedly) brought the club.

Since Alexis would be going for nothing in the summer, many fans wanted Arsenal to collect any cash they could for him while still possible.

Instead, Arsenal came away with Henrikh Mkhitaryan, a superb playmaker who was obviously wasted under Jose Mourinho.

This was absolutely the best-case scenario.

No amount of cash that was being offered would have been enough to replace a player of Alexis’ calibre. Mkhitaryan is not quite on his level but is not far off.

Moreover, with the Gunners currently sitting in 6th place, Champions League football is seriously in doubt. That would make it next to impossible to attract players of such skill in the summer, no matter how many bags of cash thrown at them.

Coming away with an immediate suitable replacement for Sanchez was the best fans could have hoped for.

Snagging his former Dortmund teammate, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, is big for the same reason.

The club getting a boatload of goals in January when it would be incredibly difficult to do so in the summer is a superb bit of business from the front office.

Next, new management behind the scenes doing well…

New Management Doing Well

Sven Mislintat’s influence has been made immediately apparent.

His first two marquee signings are players from his previous club, and in January no less.

Perhaps the biggest news is not who he and Ivan Gazidis have brought in, but who they have managed to retain.

Mesut Ozil signing a new contract with Arsenal is incredible. He seemed on his way out, just like Alexis Sanchez. His contributions on the pitch for the next 3.5 seasons will be very valuable.

Equally as valuable is the signal it sends to his teammates and fans: that top class players are still willing to stick around and envision success for Arsenal in the near future.

The players that have left the club in this window are sure to cause fans some emotional pain. Olivier Giroud, Francis Coquelin, and Theo Walcott have built up nothing but goodwill in the club and with the fans.

But they were Wenger favourites who were only being used on the pitch because of their standing with him.

With Wenger no longer completely in charge of transfers, they were promptly escorted out. This shrewd bit of business was best for them and the club, and only happened as a result of the new hierarchy.

Hopefully, the first manager after Arsene Wenger will be as immediately successful as this hire.

The upper management have done their job, now it is up to the players on the pitch.

Next, putting it all together…

Putting it All Together

The Gunners are in unprecedented turmoil on the pitch. Sitting in sixth place and closer to relegation than the title, there is no more room for error.

Arsene has his dream; a team made up almost completely of attacking midfielders, with a pacey striker in front of them.

It now better work.

The problem for a while now has not been the quality of the players. These players have had profound success before coming to Arsenal, and some have found it since leaving.

The problem is the manager.

Arsene Wenger has been indescribably good for the club, but he just does not seem to be capable of managing a consistently good team throughout a 38-match season any more.

He can still have flashes of his former managerial skill (the three FA Cups won since ending the trophy drought), but with the players at his disposal, Arsenal should never finish below fourth in the league, especially not two seasons in a row.

Arsenal need to win almost all remaining Premier League and/or Europa League matches for this season to be considered successful.

One season out of world football’s most prestigious club competition was hard enough to swallow, two in a row will be synonymous with mediocrity and is beyond unacceptable.

Winning the League Cup will be celebrated but will not paper over the league embarrassment like the FA Cup triumph did in 2016-2017.

The new signings will have to gel quickly. An important match at the weekend with Everton lies ahead.

Nothing but three points will be good enough. The Gunners need results quickly. The North London Derby and knockout round of the Europa League lie just ahead.

If Arsenal fail to come away with victories in these matches, the wheels could completely fall off this season. But three points (and knockout victory) in all of them could springboard the club to a miraculous spring.

A Europa League trophy and/or snatching fourth place from the jaws of defeat would be a fantastic way for the new signings (both on the pitch and off) to start writing their own Arsenal legends.