Arsenal £200m transfer expectations make no sense as Edu critics keep forgetting progress

Arsenal have what is an important window in which there are key positions which need to be strengthened. However, with the summer on the verge of crossing into July, Arsenal have not signed a player for Mikel Arteta’s senior side as of yet, despite already landing Kai Havertz by this stage last season.

While it is not surprising to see the scrutiny increase the longer the summer goes on, it is important to continue to stress the reality of Arsenal and other clubs like Manchester City, Liverpool, and Manchester United situations that have led to none of them signing players at this point. With the European Championships and Copa America in full swing, plenty of the top talent and targets remain focused on football with their countries.

The Profit and Sustainability Rules deadline of June 30 is causing a rush of deals for some clubs like Chelsea and Aston Villa, with reports also emerging of Newcastle's late panic, but for Arsenal, they have worked within its confines and have not been under any pressure. Moving into July, however, it will open up more freedom for clubs to spend helping the Gunners with both incomings and outgoings.

Yet with Arsenal breaking their transfer record last summer when they brought in more than £200million worth of players, the idea that this figure will continue to rise is not realistic, especially for a team competing at the top of the Premier League. To raise the ceiling any higher, especially with a young squad, is incredibly difficult.

Man City have only spent over £200million once in the last six summers which happened to be in 2023 when they lost key figures like Ilkay Gundogan, Aymeric Laporte, Riyad Mahrez, and Joao Cancelo (on loan). Arsenal are not in this state, and look to be losing depth which needs to be replaced. However, even despite a desire to upgrade, it is unlikely to cost the Declan Rice-level fees the club have paid of late.

Lastly, looking at the market, the opportunities are simply not as prevalent as they have been in other windows. It always looked clear who Arsenal would move for, be it Rice last summer, Jesus the summer before, Ben White and Martin Odegaard the year before that and in Arteta’s first summer the signings of Gabriel Magalhaes and Thomas Partey were spoken of well ahead of their arrivals.

READ MORE: Mohammed Kudus Arsenal transfer makes perfect sense as Mikel Arteta must find dream wide option

READ MORE: Arsenal receive Emile Smith Rowe sale clarity after £22.5m Chelsea deal set to extend wait

What Arsenal need to avoid is signing players for the sake of it simply to make it more palatable for those criticising this perceived slow start to business. When it comes to September, surely fans would much rather their club have made the right decisions and signed the right players over a longer period of time than rushed into some risky deals early just to ensure business was done fast.

It is also not like Mikel Arteta would not want deals done fast either. The Spaniard said in his final pre-match press conference of the season: "That's the ideal scenario, every club wants that. We want that as coaches and for the players especially you want that, and then for the team and the environment."

Precision, thought and strategy. These three words are crucial in any club's method of approaching a transfer window and Arsenal have shown that almost every summer and as a result have established themselves as title challengers with aims even higher than simply that.