It was not the signing that Arsenal fans would have hoped for this upcoming Premier League season, but nonetheless the one they received.
In the last week the Gunners have completed the signing of Japanese international Takuma Asano from Sanfrecce Hiroshima.
Supporters may be happy in a sense that a new striker has been bought, which they have needed, however, they may be a little bit disappointed with the lack of a star-profile.
Arsenal for so long has been linked with world-class players, but in turn has never delivered on signing those names that the rumors suggest.
Already in this current transfer window and those gone by there have been talks of Karim Benzema, Gonzalo Higuain, Edinson Cavani, Alexandre Lazcette, Alvaro Morata, Romelu Lukaku, James Rodriguez and Patrick Aubameyang all making a move to the Emirates Stadium.
But so far they have had to settle with Danny Welbeck, Oliver Giroud and more recently Asano.
There have of course been stellar signings from Arsene Wenger – such as Mesut Ozil from Real Madrid, Alexis Sanchez from Barcelona and Grant Xhaka from Borussia Monchengladbach.
The problem still remains though, that despite the current signings in this transfer window (Xhaka and Asano) when will a world class player (predominantly a forward) make the move to North London?
It is becoming apparent that Arsene Wenger does not like to spend heavily – when in fact he needs too.
In the previous January transfer window, Arsenal only spent £5 million of its budget, ranking the club fourth in terms of spending.
In some instances, not spending huge sums of money on top class players may have hindered their title hopes, especially in the season just gone by.
This is clearly a problem for Arsenal fans and in fact, they have had enough. They want action in the transfer window and not the cautious spending that Wenger is accustomed too.
It is clear another striker is needed, which has been the case for a while now, and more importantly one that scores goals.
With that in mind, one player that has forever been linked to the Gunners ever since he burst onto the scene in Ligue 1 is Alexandre Lacazette. However, Lyon want a staggering £42 million for him if Arsenal are to capture his services.
With a price tag of that size, it is unlikely that Wenger would open the chequebook for him anytime soon. The Frenchman would rather buy a player that scores goals for a cheaper price.
Conversely, Manchester United, Manchester City and Chelsea have all begun their transfer campaigns with a bang.
Jose Mourinho has already signed Zlatan Ibrahimovic (on a free transfer), Eric Baily for £30 million and more recently Henrikh Mkhitaryan on an undisclosed fee for his new side.
Manchester City has made deals for Nolitio at a fee of £13.8 million, Alexander Zinchenko on an undisclosed fee, a free transfer of Australian Aaron Mooy and Ilkay Gundogan for £21 million.
Meanwhile, the Blues have only made the one signing, capturing the services of Michy Batshuayi from Marseille for a fee of £33.2 million.
This means one thing, Arsenal’s title rivals are not afraid to spend the big bucks in order to strengthen their squads for the upcoming season.
Wenger needs to do just that.
If he is desperate to win the league at Arsenal, he needs to break some records and needs to start spending like there is no tomorrow.
It is true that he has already made one big signing in Xhaka, but he needs to show no fear in this window.
Manchester City, United and Chelsea all knew where they went wrong in 2015-16 and have stated making amends for it, by making big money moves for high status players.
Wenger and Arsenal cannot afford the same cautious approach this time that has so dearly cost them in previous windows.
They need to be aggressive in going after the stars of world football, if they want to be a genuine threat for the upcoming season.
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