Arsene Wenger was concerned that the Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang deal would collapse under the weight of its own complexity.

The deal that took Aubameyang from Borussia Dortmund to Arsenal was one of the most complex transfers of recent times.

It started out simply enough, but quickly became dependent on two other deals going through.

Wenger was worried that the deal would collapse at various points.

“There were plenty of times when I thought that might not happen,” he said, as reported by the Evening Standard.

LONDON, ENGLAND - FEBRUARY 03: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang of Arsenal during the Premier League match between Arsenal and Everton at Emirates Stadium on February 3, 2018 in London, England. (Photo by Catherine Ivill/Getty Images)
(Photo by Catherine Ivill/Getty Images)

“First of all the time became very short and it had to work on three fronts.

“And one linked with another one, you don’t know any more who masters the situation. But I must say in the end it worked well.”

Dortmund initially wanted Olivier Giroud as part of the deal, but the Frenchman didn’t want to move away from London.

They turned their attention to Chelsea’s Michy Batshuayi, but Chelsea would only let him go if they got a replacement.

After going after several other target men, that replacement ended up being Giroud.

These two deals had to go through before Dortmund could let allow Aubameyang to leave.

In the end, things were resolved surprisingly quickly.

Aubameyang was confirmed as an Arsenal player by mid-day, and the other two deals went ahead with few problems.

It ended up being quite the coup by the club, who would have surely have failed to get such a deal over the line in the past – if they’d even been in for him in the first place.