Arsenal Ollie Watkins transfer failure hands unwanted tag as £180m spend sends brutal reminder
"Be humble, eh?" The words on every Arsenal supporters' lips on Sunday night - and Monday morning - after their comprehensive 5-1 win over Premier League foes Manchester City.
In the context of the league table, it saw Liverpool's hard-earned win over AFC Bournemouth scrubbed with their deficit to the league leaders restored to six points.
After these last two years of title race heartache at the hands of Pep Guardiola's well-oiled machine, and a bruising last-gasp equaliser in the reverse fixture, it would have been confidence-boosting within the Arsenal dressing room to dismantle a top-flight great.
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Defeat for the champions was another blemish in a damaging season at the Etihad Stadium in a dismal campaign for City. Here, we take a closer look at the latest Arsenal news and headlines from elsewhere;
'City show that it pays to be successful'
As a result of City's recent form this season, the chequebook has been open for the Catalan who has seen a mid-season rebuild with £180million spent in January and February.
The latest acquisition was the £50million move for FC Porto defensive midfielder Nico Gonzalez, in a bid to shore up their options after Rodri's knee injury.
The swoop for the 23-year-old saw them spend the most money in a winter transfer window in recent memory - with their highest previous outlay coming in a £63million during the 2017/2018 campaign.
Gonzalez joined Abdukodir Khusanov, who arrived for £33.6million from Lens, £29.6million-rated Victor Reis and Omar Marmoush after City splashed £59million on the Egyptian attacker.
football.london says: We have heard a lot about Liverpool 2.0 in recent years, that being said the rewards seem to be reaped from the Anfield club. The Manchester City evolution looks to have had a slower start and not quite the desired impact but, needless to say, Premier League beware. Although it's unlikely that they may mount a title challenge this season, Arsenal fans will be hoping they can do them a favour in two weeks' time, when Liverpool travel to Greater Manchester.
Arsenal one of the 'losers' in transfer window
ESPN have suggested that Arsenal are one of the "losers" during the winter transfer window. The Gunners were (and probably still are) in need to attacking reinforcements as they looked to utilise the market to strengthen for the title charge.
There was reportedly a rejected bid for Aston Villa striker Ollie Watkins, while now-Tottenham Hotspur forward Mathys Tel was explored as a possible target was opted against prior to his loan move from Bayern Munich.
Meanwhile, they lost one of their promising defends, Ayden Heaven, to Manchester United.
In their report, ESPN wrote: "Arsenal are the second-highest scorers in the Premier League, but they still needed to sign another forward player if they want to challenge Liverpool for the title.
"Kai Havertz has done okay, with 15 goals in all competitions to date - but injuries to Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Jesus have left the squad short of options up front and that's not going to change now.
"A £40million bid to sign Aston Villa striker Ollie Watkins was rejected, while links to Bayern's Tel, Juventus' Dusan Vlahovic and Athletic Club's Nico Williams came to nothing. The club also lost young defender Heaven - to United - for minimal compensation, which they would not have liked."
football.london says: Only time will tell whether or not Arsenal live to regret making their move in the window too late. They looked to test Villa's resolve for Watkins just days before the deadline and while that may not be an issue, their efforts to persuade Unai Emery's side were made tougher by Al-Nassr's lucrative bid for Jhon Duran. Ultimately, the Saudi Pro League turned his head and made the window for Watkins' dream move to Arsenal even smaller. There are obvious PSR implications too but, with a six-point gap, Arsenal need to hope their current crop can compete with Liverpool, while hoping teams around the Premier League can do them a favour.