How Arsenal might have lined up if Edu pulled off three January deals including Vlahovic

Every transfer deal done before the deadline

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The January transfer window promised much for Arsenal, but ultimately delivered very little, barring a trimming of Mikel Arteta’s squad. In the end, a much-needed striker never arrived, despite links to Dusan Vlahovic, Alexander Isak, Alvaro Morata, Jonathan David, Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Raul de Tomas and more.

Ultimately it was a window of what-ifs for Arsenal, who ended with six players departing and none arriving.

A late deal for Colorado Rapids defender Auston Trusty will have done little to quell the unrest amongst Gunners fans.

Trusty is staying in MLS on loan, so won’t help make up the numbers after Ainsley Maitland-Niles (Roma, loan), Folarin Balogun (Middlesbrough, loan), Calum Chambers (Aston Villa, permanent), Sead Kolasinac (Marseille, permanent), Pablo Mari (Udinese, loan) and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Barcelona, permanent) all left.

Sporting director Edu is likely to come under pressure in the wake of a disappointing transfer window for Arsenal.

Arsenal fans: here’s what you could have won.

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Defence

Arsenal spent over £150million in the summer transfer window – and the vast majority of the cash was spent on the defence.

Aaron Ramsdale arrived from Sheffield United to play in goal and has established himself as the undisputed No 1 ahead of Bernd Leno since.

Takehiro Tomiyasu has impressed at right-back after joining from Bologna and Ben White has settled in alongside Gabriel Margalaes in central defence following his £50m move from Brighton.

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Kieran Tierney remains the best left-back on the books, with Nuno Tavares as a back-up.

The back line was not the area which needed strengthening in January.

Midfield

This is where things may begin to get annoying for Arsenal fans.

The Gunners were linked with a few different midfielders during the window, but left empty handed.

Bruno Guimaraes was a target, but the Brazil international ultimately decided to snub Arsenal and move to relegation-threatened Newcastle.

The 24-year-old Lyon midfielder cost the Magpies £33m, with a further £6.7m in add-ons.

Another man who did not move to north London was Arthur Melo, who was linked with a move from Juventus.

Arsenal met with his agent, Federico Pastorello, in London, but a transfer never materialised.

Thomas Partey, Granit Xhaka, Albert Sambi Lokonga and Mohamed Elneny remain in the position, but the quality of those players and the depth remains a question.

Attack

This is where things are really problematic for Arsenal.

Arteta allowed talented youngster Balogun to leave for Middlesbrough on loan and then sanctioned the permanent departure of Aubameyang.

The Aubameyang fallout has been well-documented and he hadn’t played for the Gunners since December 6, after being stripped of the captaincy.

Whether his departure was right or wrong, it has undoubtedly left Arsenal short of options up front, with Alexandre Lacazette and Eddie Nketiah the only senior out-and-out strikers at the club. To make matters worse, both are out of contract in July.

Martin Odegaard, Bukayo Saka, Emile Smith Rowe and Gabriel Martinelli are talented players who can chip in with goals.

But what Arsenal desperately wanted was Vlahovic to join them from Fiorentina. Instead, after a prolonged pursuit, he opted for Juventus.

A back-up option couldn’t be lured, either, leaving Arteta with what can optimistically be termed a slim-line squad which has failed to score in the past four matches.

How Arsenal could have lined up: Ramsdale; Tomiyasu, White, Gabriel, Tierney; Arthur, Guimaraes; Saka, Odegaard, Martinelli; Vlahovic.

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