Arsenal ended the January window without any new signings, and a few of the players they could have brought in have been impressing with their new clubs.
Arsenal ended the January transfer window without making any signings, despite injuries to Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Jesus and clear signs that Kai Havertz was exhausted.
That decision began to look foolish in the wake of hamstring injuries for Gabriel Martinelli and Havertz, but the argument was that Arsenal didn’t want to damage their chances with long-term targets by blowing significant funds on second-choice January signings.
The counter-argument is that there were quite a few loan options available, and those loan players have done well with their new clubs so far.
Randal Kolo Muani joined Juventus on loan from PSG, and he has five goals and one assist in six games for the side. That includes a goal against Napoli (the Serie A leaders at the time) and an assist in the win over Inter Milan (the current Serie A leaders).
Arsenal had looked at Kolo Muani in the past, but they decided not to move for him in January.
Then there’s Marcus Rashford and Marco Asensio, who both joined Aston Villa on loan in January.
Rashford has looked reinvigorated in the early days of his Villa loan, and he assisted both of Asensio’s goals in the comeback win over Chelsea on Saturday. The same day as Arsenal’s embarrassing 1-0 defeat to West Ham United.
Arsenal were technically at the limit for Premier League loanees, but that was a problem for the hierarchy to solve. They could have cancelled Neto’s loan or signed him permanently without significantly affecting the team in the long term or the short term. Inaction isn’t a solution, it’s just avoidance.
Even Mathys Tel has made a decent start at Tottenham Hotspur. The Bayern loanee already has his first goal for Spurs – against Villa – and he’s started in consecutive wins for the team over Manchester United and Ipswich Town.
These aren’t players who could potentially have been available, they are players who were available and did move on loan in January.
It’s hard to believe that any of these players would have turned down the chance to join Arsenal and compete for the Premier League title and the Champions League. But the Gunners didn’t try to sign any of them, and they’ve been left with a midfielder at centre-forward.
It’s not just about Mikel Merino. Merino was far from Arsenal’s worst performer against West Ham, and he didn’t really have the chances to score to begin with.
But if Arsenal have an Asensio in the squad, they can afford to substitute the struggling Martin Odegaard, moving Ethan Nwaneri into midfield. If Arsenal have Rashford, or Kolo Muani, or Tel, they can start that player and keep Merino as an impact option like against Leicester City.
Arsenal chose to enter the second half of the season with a thin squad at risk of serious problems after just one or two injuries. They can’t then have any complaints when those injuries occur.