And ultimately Arsenal decided to sign no-one.

Throughout January we blogged a few times about potential Arsenal transfers. Each blog also contained a viewpoint that we would rather sign no-one then splash the cash on someone we did not really want.

The last 5 or 6 years our transfer dealings have been hampered by having too many players, on too high a wage, that are just not fit for purpose.

You go back to the transfer of Lucas Perez.

In 2016 we missed out on numerous preferred targets – the biggest of which was Jamie Vardy. We ended up signing Perez out of nowhere.

He was never really wanted by anyone at the club but somehow managed to become an Arsenal player signing for a reported £17.1m.

The Spaniard would play just one season for The Arsenal; starting just 2 games in the Premier League.

He would then return to Deportivo on loan for a season before joining West Ham for a reported £4m.

What a waste of money.

I have never been a “spend money for the sake of it” type of fella.

Going into this transfer window we still had a huge squad – we had right backs alone (plus another out on loan).

With just Premier League games to play, we did not need to bring in squad players. We needed those that could come in be better than what we have.

It is why Dusan Vlahovic was our number one target. It was deemed he would be an improvement on Alexandre Lacazette and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.

We are crying out for a new striker and new midfielder. But any signing has to be better than Lacazette and Aubameyang.

Vlahovic was that. The likes of Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Bruno Guimaraes not.

DCL could become an option in the summer, but he would have been a huge risk having played just 3 games since August.

We could have splashed out £60million for him and he broken down with injury again leaving us with a big hole in the budget and still needing a new striker in be summer.

I have also never understood the Guimaraes hype. He has shown nothing for anyone to say he is an improvement on Granit Xhaka.

Arsenal scouts have followed him from before he joining Lyon on 2020. They have turned down numerous opportunities to sign him.

The likes of Everton, Tottenham and Manchester United have also failed to move for him despite all having the money and being desperate for midfield reinforcements.

Guimaraes is the perfect example of what would’ve been a bad January signing.

Not good enough for regular first team football for us. Would have taken £30m+ out of our summer budget whilst still leaving us needing to improve on Xhaka.

In January we were not after squad players. We have just 17 games left this season. We can do that with the squad we have.

Some will point to those who have left and shout “we need to replace them”. But how many games did Pablo Mari, Calum Chambers, Ainsley Maitland-Niles and Saed Kolasinac play this season?

The answer is 13 Premier League appearances between them. Just 7 starts.

Yes, not signing a top striker and central midfielder could cost us a top 4 place. But also signing the wrong striker and midfielder would not have guaranteed us top 4 and would’ve cost us £50-100m.

The summer is now key.

If we go out and secure Alex Isak and Youri Tielemans, it would have justified it decision making in January.

Mikel Arteta and Edu strengthen Arsenal by signing better players than we have in our first XI.

We did that with Aaron Ramsdale, Takehiro Tomiyasu, Ben White and Martin Odergaard.

Anyone who has ever employed someone will know how costly it is to hire the wrong person. It is better to wait for the right candidate to come along then panic.

Hiring the wrong person is worse than hiring no one.

Keenos

It was supposed to be a quiet weekend without top flight football. And then the Mason Greenwood news broke.

The pictures and voice note are disgusting. But now a legal process is underway so my advice to everyone is keep your views private and let that process happen.

That is not me defending what happened or trying to brush the incident under the carpet. It is my with my legal background advising everyone to keep their counsel.

In actual football news, Newcastle confirmed the signing of Bruno Guimarães on Sunday.

He released his own minute long video, which was very strange.

One third of the video was dedicated to The Arsenal.

My theory is the first part of the video was because he expected (or hoped) to join Arsenal. When that deal did not materialise, his PR team kept that “slide” in an attempt to roll Arsenal.

If worked to an extent, but mainly consisted of Arsenal fans laughing at Guimarães and Newcastle.

The situation reminds me of Aston Villa in the summer.

Having signed “Arsenal’s best keeper”, Villa then “beat” us to Emi Buendia and were about to sign Emile Smith Rowe.

Villa fans used this, and their owners net worth, to try and paint a picture that they were a force to be reckoned with. That they were a better option for players than Arsenal and would be challenging for Europe this season.

The reality was Villa’s transfer window was funded by selling their best player and they currently site 11^th.

Newcastle fans believe that signing Guimarães ahead of Arsenal is an indication that they are now a top Premier League club. They are 18^th in the league.

Arsenal, Tottenham and Manchester United all need reinforcements in midfield. All turned down the chance to sign Guimarães.

The Brazilian has been on Arsenal’s radar for a few years – prior to him joining Lyon. If Edu wanted him, he would be an Arsenal player.

There is a reason why at 24-years-old he has just 3 caps in the worst Brazil team I have ever seen.

Tim Vickery – whose job is to actually watch South American football – describes Guimarães as a sideways passer who crumbles under pressure.

He seems to have become a favourite of the Twitter scouts after being fantastic on Football Manager a few years ago. I would rather listen to Vickery.

When you consider Newcastle’s other signings have been Chris Wood, Kieran Trippier and Dan Burn (pending), I do not really understand their excitement this transfer window.

Had Mike Ashley signed those 3 players they would be crying into their Brown Ale.

Clearly Guimarães is using Newcastle as a stepping stone. Probably hoping that a good 18 months might see an Arsenal or Manchester United. Time will tell.

It is transfer deadline day and I would still be very surprised if Arsenal sign anyone.

The Alexander Isak talk seems to be based on misinformation. The number plate doing the rounds was apparently owned by a luxury hire company; with pictures dating back to 2018.

Why this car was pictured in and around the Emirates Stadium is anyone’s guess. There is also no proof that the pictures floating about were from this weekend.

Chances are Isak was just in London along with Adnan Januzaj whilst La Liga was on a break.

Ultimately, like we saw with Calum Chambers departure, no one on Twitter knows what is going on.

Let’s sit back and see what happens today….

Keenos

Our turntable mats have been one of our most popular items this year #Arsenal #ArsenalFC #AFChttps://t.co/i7GE6hKlYA pic.twitter.com/aOOBnUxgrf

— Kick Off Merchants (@KOMerchants) January 20, 2022

Jack wilshere is continuing his rehabilitation with the Arsenal first team squad out in Dubai.

As is normal when non-contracted players join the first team for training, Wilshere has been given the latest gear with a number on it. 12 was available so he got given that.

As expected, this created a lot of excitement amongst Arsenal fans who saw this as a sign that he was going to come back.

He is unlikely to sign a 6 month deal with Arsenal. But if he does he will not be the only former star that joined us for to regain fitness and ended with a second spell at the club.

Sol Campbell

Sol Campbell began training with the Arsenal side in mid-October 2009 in a bid to maintain his fitness ahead of the January transfer window. On 15 January, he re-signed with the club.

Nine days later he made his second debut in an FA Cup defeat to Stoke City. On 18 February, he scored his first goal in his second stint at the club with a headed goal against Porto in the first leg of the UEFA Champions League round of 16.

Due to injuries to Thomas Vermaelen and William Gallas towards the end of the season, he found himself starting frequently for Arsenal.

In July 2010, Campbell joined Newcastle United on a one-year contract.

His second stint at the club saw him play 14 games, scoring 1 goal.

Jens Lehmann

In March 2011, rumours began circulating that Jens Lehmann might come out of retirement due to an injury crisis at the club leaving us with only one fit senior keeper, Manuel Almunia.

At the time, Lehmann was also scheduled to spend six weeks working on his coaching badges at his old club.

With Wojciech Szczesny, Lukasz Fabianski and Vito Mannone all out injured, 17 March 2011 Lehmann signed for Arsenal on a rolling contract until the end of the season and was named on the substitutes bench 2 days later.

On 10 April 2011, Lehmann started for the first team in an away game against Blackpool. He was forced to start the game when Almunia was injured in the warm up.

Winning 3–1, it was his 200th appearance for Arsenal.

At 41 years and 150 days, Lehmann became the oldest player to play for Arsenal in the Premier League but not the oldest to play for the team.

His contract with Arsenal expired at the end of the season, and then he decided to retire once again.

The Blackpool appearance was his only game during the spell.

Thierry Henry

After training with Arsenal during the MLS off-season, Henry re-signed for the club on a two-month loan deal on 6 January 2012. This was to provide cover for Gervinho and Marouane Chamakh, who were unavailable due to their participation in the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations.

Henry was given the number 12 shirt– his old Arsenal number 14 being worn by Theo Walcott.

To one of the loudest Emirates roars, Henry made his second Arsenal debut as a substitute against Leeds United in the FA Cup third round and scored the only goal.

In his last league game on loan, he scored the winning goal in stoppage time in a 2–1 win against Sunderland.

He would return to New York Red Bulls for a further 3 seasons before retiring.

Two goals in his seven appearances would extend his club record to 228 goals.

Mathieu Flamini

Flamini began training with Arsenal midway in early August 2013, with the reason to “solely maintain fitness” with a view to signing for a club in England.

Immediately it sparked media attention with claims rising that he would soon sign for Arsenal. But this was denied by many at the club.

Flamini, however, did indeed sign for Arsenal on 29 August 2013 and became Arsenal’s second acquisition of the summer, after Yaya Sanogo.

He made his returning debut on 1 September at Emirates Stadium against Tottenham Hotspur, coming on for Jack Wilshere and helping the team secure a 1–0 win. His performances after signing were lauded by both critics and fans alike, and had featured in all of Arsenal’s Premier League, Football League Cup and European games since, with many seeing his signing, and his combative style of play, as one of the key reasons for Arsenal’s excellent early season form.

He scored his first goal in his second spell at Arsenal on 30 November, the second in a 0–3 away win at Cardiff City. He has also scored in a crucial 1–1 draw against Manchester City and helped the club finish top 4.

Flamini’s second spell at the club would see him stay for 3 years and win 2 FA Cups.

He is perhaps best remembered for what happened in 2015.

On 23 September 2015, Flamini earned his first start of the 2015–16 season in the Football League Cup third round tie against Tottenham Hotspur. He scored both of Arsenal’s goals with a Man of the Match performance.

Flamini would join Palace for a season before finishing his career in Spain.

He played 93 games, scoring 5 goals, in that second spell for Arsenal.

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Poll – Who had the best “second spell” for Arsenal??

— 🎗 ///SHE WORE/// 🎗 (@SheWore) January 30, 2022

Keenos

Our turntable mats have been one of our most popular items this year #Arsenal #ArsenalFC #AFChttps://t.co/i7GE6hKlYA pic.twitter.com/aOOBnUxgrf

— Kick Off Merchants (@KOMerchants) January 20, 2022