Mikel Arteta looks set to get PSG left-back Layvin Kurzawa over the line but he has been left counting the cost of a miserable Arsenal window in the summer.
Incredibly, with a centre-back and defensive midfielder still the long-term holes in the Arsenal squad, Unai Emery spent £73m on another attack-minded player to bolster a squad full of under-delivering creative players.
£24m was spent more sensibly on a left-back – and it is Kieran Tierney’s unfortunate injury Arteta is looking to cover for by doing a cut-price deal for Kurzawa, with PSG likely to settle for around £5m for a 27-year-old out of contract in the summer.
Tierney’s arrival last summer, though, left just £8m to invest in those two crucial areas – with David Luiz the gamble Emery eventually hit upon.
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“When I look at centre-backs he has many attributes that I like from one, but we’re not interested.”
And the 37-year-old head coach said when asked if he has drawn up a shortlist of targets: “I have yes. You need to have one always just in case!”
He added: “It has to be the right player, in the right context that financially we can compete and we can attract and all these factors, if you put them together, are not easy in this market.
“I’m happy we have the squad that I believe we can compete for what we want. I’m fine.
“I want to keep the players and get the maximum from the players that I want, but if this scenario changes and we need somebody, I’m expecting that we will go into the market and try to solve the issue.”
Another season without Champions League revenue looks on the cards and the board will be nervous about over-investing this month until they can do a proper restructuring job in the summer under their new manager.
That looks likely to involve a bit of additional fundraising – with the luxury of carrying Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre-Lacazette possibly something that needs to be sacrificed.
Arteta will just have to get the best out of what he is given – and perhaps get a bit more change out of Pepe than Arsenal have seen so far.