Arsenal moved through 19 confirmed ins and outs this summer and ended up with a record-breaking £120m in sales, but the window still drew the same criticism at the end as it did during it: the club did not land the elite forward it wanted. The outlet’s verdict was simple enough, because Arsenal are now short two attackers after three senior players left and Ethan Nwaneri went on loan.

The sales story

The biggest hard number from the window was on the outgoing side. Arsenal’s sales business broke a nine-year record previously set by Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain’s £35m move to Liverpool, which tells you how much work the club did on that side of the market.

The list also carried real value at the top end. Bruno Guimarães was listed as Arsenal’s biggest summer acquisition at £75million from Newcastle, while Gabriel Martinelli was named among the outs to Al Hilal for £60million, marked as expected to be announced soon. Leandro Trossard was listed at £17million to Besiktas, Jakub Kiwior at £14.7million to FC Porto, and Reiss Nelson as a free agent.

That mix of incoming headline value and outgoing volume is why the window looked busy from the outside, but not complete in the area that mattered most. Arsenal spent the summer making changes across the squad and still finished with the same hole in attack.

Why the forward issue still lingers

The sharpest line from the assessment was that Arsenal’s failure to sign an elite forward stood out considerably. That is the part of the window fans will keep coming back to, because the club allowed three senior players to leave, sent Ethan Nwaneri out on loan, and only brought in one at the very top end of the business.

Andrea Berta’s work produced movement, and the numbers show that clearly, but the club still came away short of two attackers. That leaves the summer looking more like a reset in the squad list than a fix for the forward line.

For Arsenal, the record £120m in sales will count for plenty in the background. The more immediate fact is that the club still heads into the season with the attack one piece short after a window built around 19 ins and outs.

Written by Jack Mercer with AI-assisted research, cross-checked against 1 outlet. How we work →