Could the vain pursuit of ‘dream’ signings such as Vinícius Júnior at the expense of all-round strengthening come to haunt the champions?

When Mikel Arteta revealed before Arsenal’s win at Aston Villa that he had pleaded with the Premier League to introduce bigger matchday squads, the final 24 hours of the transfer window was not quite what he would have had in mind. A deadline day on which Manchester City matched the British record to sign Enzo Fernández from Chelsea for £125m came and went as Arsenal allowed Gabriel Jesus and Ethan Nwaneri to leave without bringing in replacements.

With Gabriel Martinelli expected to join Al-Hilal before Sunday’s deadline in Saudi Arabia for a fee that could rise to £60m, there are question marks about the depth of the champions’ squad, despite Arteta still having at least two options for each position. Eberechi Eze will provide competition on the left for the new boy Christos Tzolis, and the manager has a plethora of central midfielders at his disposal after the arrival of Bruno Guimarães from Newcastle, but there is not much room for manoeuvre should Arsenal experience injuries in attack like they have for the past two seasons.

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