Arsenal’s Transfer Window Review: How Morgan Rogers, Julián Álvarez and Vinícius Júnior Deals Fell Through Despite Late Blockbuster Bid

Arsenal have finished the summer transfer window with three fewer attacking players than they had at the start. For the reigning Premier League champions, that was hardly the outcome many expected — but it is now the reality facing Mikel Arteta.

Adapting to the strengthening of their fellow Big Six clubs had been identified as a priority by co-chair Josh Kroenke. After Arsenal secured the title in May, he warned that the club could not afford to stand still.

‘Right now there are other teams that are already trying to strengthen to come at us for next season. So we need to be aware of that,’ Kroenke said. ‘We’ve already had a few conversations about different areas that we think we can improve – both on and off the pitch. We are looking forward to getting that going this summer.’

There have been some respectable additions and the window can be described as solid, at a push. Arsenal appear strong enough to challenge for another title, but they have missed the opportunity to build a truly formidable squad capable of pulling clear of their rivals.

Instead, it has felt like a return to a familiar Arsenal pattern: a summer in which the club once again struggled to address its need for a striker.

Viktor Gyokeres’ arrival last year had finally answered supporters’ long-running calls for a proven centre forward. This summer, though, Arsenal slipped back into the uncertainty of 2023 and 2024, when their failure to sign a striker — Kai Havertz had initially been recruited as a midfielder — sparked widespread frustration.

The club’s wider recruitment strategy delivered mixed results. Arsenal got some calls spectacularly right, most notably with the £75million signing of Bruno Guimaraes. In a market where Enzo Fernandez cost £125m, Elliot Anderson £116m and Sandro Tonali £100m, Guimaraes looks excellent value. He can reasonably be considered the superior player to Tonali, yet Arsenal paid £25m less. That represents a significant success. The concerns are concentrated in attack.

Morgan Rogers was on Arsenal’s radar, only for Chelsea to secure his signature. Vinicius Junior was the club’s preferred prize, but the Brazil forward opted to remain at Real Madrid, with some sceptics suggesting his interest in Arsenal helped him negotiate improved terms.

Julian Alvarez had also been viewed as a longer-term option, although Arsenal’s chances were always slim because the forward was determined to join Barcelona. The Gunners are understood to have accepted by last weekend that the pursuit was over.

Their striker search did not end there. Daily Mail Sport understands that assistant manager Gabriel Heinze contacted Inter Milan forward Lautaro Martinez — his fellow Argentine — early last week to discuss the possibility of a transfer.

Inter, however, had no interest in negotiating. Martinez still has three years remaining on his contract, and the Italian club refused to consider a deal. Arsenal’s approach nevertheless demonstrated that they were actively seeking another striker to support Havertz and Gyokeres, particularly after Gabriel Jesus departed for Barcelona.

There is also the curious matter of Gyokeres’ start to the season. He has not played a single minute in either of Arsenal’s first two league matches. Whether that was intended as a message from Arteta to the club’s decision-makers is open to debate.

Arsenal were prepared to pay approximately £80million for Rogers, but walked away once Chelsea moved beyond that valuation. Sources say the player wanted to join Arsenal and that his representatives encouraged the club to match Chelsea’s offer.

The Gunners also explored the possibility of signing Paris Saint-Germain winger Bradley Barcola. Liverpool eventually bought him for £123m, but Arsenal were unconvinced that he justified such a fee and never submitted an offer.

The result is an Arsenal attack that is thinner than it was when the window opened. Leandro Trossard, Gabriel Jesus and Gabriel Martinelli have all left, although Martinelli’s transfer to Al-Hilal remains subject to completion, with the Saudi window closing on September 6. The club have added only one senior forward, Christos Tzolis, while attacking midfielder Ethan Nwaneri has joined Borussia Dortmund on loan.

The shortage is most obvious on the left wing, where Tzolis and Eberechi Eze are the only clear options available to Arteta.

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Greek winger Tzolis was earmarked as a player with a high-ceiling who would fight for a starting place, but more one for the future than right now. Eze, meanwhile, spent most of last season as an attacking midfielder. Bring the possibility of injuries into the mix, which hurt Arsenal last season, and the options thin out.

With no Martinelli, Noni Madueke is now expected to play on either wing more than last season.

Arsenal’s inability to bring in an attacker aside from Tzolis is a tough pill to swallow for a fanbase believing they would land a marquee signing in the form of either Vinicius or Alvarez. Madueke potentially filling in on the left is some fall in expectation.

It must be said, the market in which Arsenal are hunting for a forward is a highly exclusive one with very few options – and sky-high prices. That is not easy to navigate, even though sporting director Andrea Berta will now face scrutiny for his inability to land such a signing.

The biggest purchase of deadline day for Kroenke Sports and Entertainment (KSE) wasn’t a pricey forward, but the £2.9billion acquisition of baseball franchise Los Angeles Angels. How Arsenal fans would have wished for that level of ambition to be directed towards the Emirates instead.

There are positives, though, in what is still a good window for Arsenal. Ezri Konsa was a smart addition. He bolsters an already formidable backline, cementing the Gunners’ squad as the league’s best defensive unit.

But the England man also performs another function: depriving the other Big Six clubs of signing a proven centre back. All of Manchester United, Liverpool and Chelsea were in much more need of Konsa than Arsenal. Preventing them getting him is a boost.

Tzolis showed promising signs in the Community Shield victory over Manchester City and his man-of-the-match display against Coventry. He struggled against Villa on Monday, but that is to be expected for a player acclimatising to such a tough league.

A further victory from the window for Arsenal is their sales. For years, they have attracted attention for being poor at securing major outgoings.

The terminated contracts of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Mesut Ozil, Nicolas Pepe and Sead Kolasinac in previous years did little to quell narratives that the Gunners are worse at selling than their rivals.

A record sale of £35m for Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain to Liverpool back in 2017 didn’t help, either. This summer, that record is set to be broken once Martinelli’s £55m move to Al-Hilal goes through.

Overall, more than £100m has been raised through selling Jesus to Barcelona (£9m), Trossard to Besiktas (£15m), Jakub Kiwior to Porto (£15m), Fabio Vieira to Hamburg (£9m) and Christian Norgaard to Everton (£7m).

The departures of Martinelli, Jesus and Vieira, for example, take around £500k off the wage bill; that has an impact.

Ultimately, Arsenal have had a decent window, strengthening a solid backline and adding depth in midfield. Though the failure to add another forward to the squad feels like a missed opportunity.

This was the summer when Arsenal had the chance to go from defending champions to overwhelming favourites after finally ending a 22-year wait for the title. Instead, they have arguably finished the window with less attacking depth than previously.

Arsenal remain one of the best teams in Europe and are clear favourites to retain the title.

With Manchester City, Liverpool, Chelsea and others all looking to close the gap, though, the margin for error will be smaller than it needed to be.