Arsenal would have made even more than their six summer signings if they’d made further sales, and they’re set to primarily target two positions in future windows.

Manchester, England, 28th August 2021. Granit Xhaka of Arsenal is shown a red card by referee Martin Atkinson during the Premier League match at the Etihad Stadium, Manchester. Picture credit should read: Darren Staples / Sportimage
Manchester, England, 28th August 2021. Granit Xhaka of Arsenal is shown a red card by referee Martin Atkinson during the Premier League match at the Etihad Stadium, Manchester. Picture credit: Darren Staples / Sportimage

Arsenal did plenty of business during the summer window, signing Ben White, Martin Odegaard, Aaron Ramsdale, Nuno Tavares, Albert Sambi Lokonga, and Takehiro Tomiyasu. But according to The Athletic, they could have made even more if the circumstances had been right.

Granit Xhaka and Alexandre Lacazette both had uncertain futures at the start of the window, and if they had left, Arsenal would have looked to replace them. As it turned out, they each decided to stay for another season.

So instead of making signings in midfield and at centre-forward in this summer’s window, Arsenal are set to primarily target those two positions in the upcoming windows.

You can see why things panned out the way they did. As much as Arsenal could do with a new first-choice central midfielder and centre-forward, they are very well stocked numbers-wise in those two positions right now.

The areas where Arsenal have made other signings were much less stacked. Backup goalkeeper, left-back, and midfield, a first-choice creative midfielder, these were areas Mikel Arteta and Edu couldn’t really afford to ignore.

You can argue about whether centre-back was a pressing need this summer, but watching Arsenal’s performances in the last couple of weeks without Ben White (and without Gabriel, in fairness) the back line was certainly a weak point.

As for right-back, that was perhaps the one area Arsenal definitely had the numbers, and it was more about upgrading on quality. Hopefully, they’ve done that with Tomiyasu.

Ideally, future windows can now be about adding real quality in one or two positions, with the various lacking areas in the squad addressed. For now, Arteta has to try and get more from Xhaka and Lacazette instead.