Mikel Arteta and Edu could already be planning for the January window with one an enquiry already made for one target

Arsenal endured an extremely successful summer window with over £200million spent to welcome four marquee names. Kicking off the summer spending was Kai Havertz before he was shortly joined by Jurrien Timber and Declan Rice with David Raya later joining on loan from Brentford.

The four new arrivals have had very differing starts to their careers in north London, to say the very least, with Rice thus far doing his best to live up to his £105million price tag. An imperious performance in the away victory over Crystal Palace showed his value to Arteta from a defensive standpoint, with his contributions against Manchester United proving he can also be a threat in the attacking third.

With the game level heading into added time, Rice stepped up with a crucial goal to set the Gunners on the path to victory with Arteta blown away by his display. “I think a tremendous performance,” he said when asked about Rice after the game.

“When you look at how a holding midfielder needs to dominate his area, how he needs to break up play, how he glided the team together when they were stretched a bit. Then he produced a magic moment to win us the game, so, really happy with him.”

However, it’s fair to say the remaining new trio have not reached the same levels, with Timber suffering a long-term knee injury on his league debut and David Raya yet to dislodge Aaron Ramsdale as Arteta’s No.1. Havertz meanwhile, has come under fire for his midfield displays but Arteta has continued to back his £65million signing.

With the summer trading period now over, it has been revealed that another Premier League star could have made the switch to Emirates Stadium with Arsenal’s interest dating back to last summer. According to the Telegraph, Arsenal enquired about Wolves winger Pedro Neto after choosing not to sign him 12 months ago when his price tag was roughly £50million.

Injuries and inconsistent form could result in that asking price deteriorating and despite not pursuing a move this summer, Arsenal have been handed a potential boost if they choose to return in January. In the same report taking a look at Wolves’ chaotic summer, it has been noted that Gary O’Neill will look to complete a squad exodus in the winter window in order to sign a new striker.

This likely means selling fringe players. However, allowing Neto to depart would give Wolves a sizeable fee to spend on a new attacking addition and give Arsenal their Bukayo Saka back-up option that many supporters have been clamouring for.

The 23-year-old may have only scored one league goal in the last two seasons, but he has already started the new campaign in fine form with three assists to his name. With his value from 2022 perhaps decreasing and Wolves’ need to sell appearing important, Arteta and Edu could secure a very good deal if that enquiry is followed up on in January.