Arsenal were reportedly ready to turn to Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven as transfer targets at centre-back had they missed out on a deal for Ezri Konsa.
The Gunners set out their stall right from the start of the summer and finished with five first-team additions, with Bruno Guimaraes, Piero Hincapie, Christos Tzolis, Illan Meslier and Konsa all signing on the dotted line in north London.
After bringing their 22-year wait for a Premier League title to an end, Arsenal’s hierarchy made it clear they were prepared to back Mikel Arteta with ample funds in the transfer market to give the Spaniard the best possible chance for the season ahead.
There was, though, a sense of disappointment on deadline day as the English champions failed in their pursuit of a top-class attacker to help fill the void left by the departures of both Leandro Trossard and Gabriel Martinelli.
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According to the BBC’s Sami Mokbel, Arsenal bosses had drawn up a shortlist containing more than 20 players at the start of the transfer window, including high-profile attacking talents Morgan Rogers, Vinicius Junior and Joao Pedro.
In defence, meanwhile, the north Londoners were said to have been monitoring developments surrounding Sassuolo’s Tarik Muharemovic, Como’s Jacobo Ramon and England international Konsa – who would join from Aston Villa in a £51million deal.
It’s claimed Tottenham centre-backs Romero and Van de Ven had also been identified amongst Arsenal’s top targets in the event that they had failed in their efforts to tie down Konsa.
However, the report underlines that Spurs would not have entertained an approach from from their bitter rivals, with Sol Campbell the last player to make the controversial move back in 2001.
Romero – Tottenham’s captain last season – would go on to complete a switch from the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium to La Liga giants Atletico Madrid in a deal worth in the region of £34million.
Van de Ven in the end decided to stay put amid strong interest from across Europe, with the Netherlands international putting pen to paper on a five-year contract last month.
Roberto De Zerbi would go on to name Van de Ven as the club’s new captain, with the Dutchman making his return from injury in the side’s goalless draw at Nottingham Forest on Saturday.
Despite Arsenal’s failure to bring in a left-sided attacker on deadline day, Arteta insisted he was satisfied with the club’s business in the transfer market.
‘Yeah, 100 per cent,’ the Arsenal head coach told reporters on Friday.
‘The outcome after can be different to what you expect but the intention is certainly there which is in my opinion what I value the most.
‘It doesn’t depend on you only. I think Andrea [Berta, sporting director] is better, or Josh [Kronke, co-chariman], to talk about that [how hard those deals are to do], because I am not in those negotiations.
‘They know much better than me. These are questions that are related to the market and all aspects that I think it is better they speak about it.’
When it was put to Arteta that the prices of players had skyrocketed, the Spaniard replied: ‘It looks like it.
‘I’m sure that when this happens, it is because there has been an analysis behind it that this is going to be sustainable and other resources will appear, or the valuation of every player will be then much higher and it will be done in a sustainable way.
‘But again, that is something for the Premier League and the owners to look at and evaluate.’
The reigning champions ensured they got their title defence off to the perfect start with victories over newly promoted Coventry City and Aston Villa.
Arteta’s men will hope to pick up where they left off when they return to action for what promises to be a compelling London derby with a resurgent Chelsea this afternoon.
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