Edu facing £106.5m missed opportunity after top-four Arsenal rivals fail in January pursuits

Arsenal entered 2022 sitting in fourth place having won their previous five matches. Sitting ahead of West Ham United, Tottenham, Manchester United and with Chelsea beginning to stutter, even the Blues were threatening to drop into the fold.

However, January has taken its toll on Mikel Arteta and his squad. Four Arsenal players left for the African Cup of Nations, Covid hit the team and no players were brought in despite Ainsley Maitland-Niles being allowed to leave on loan.

Zero wins after a loss to Manchester City and a home draw with Burnley mean the Gunners are now sixth but with games in hand over their rivals above that, if won, could see them return to the Champions League qualification places.

Beyond the poor results, however, the frustrations have only grown with a lack of incoming business in the January transfer window. Maitland-Niles, Folarin Balogun, Sead Kolasinac, Pablo Mari and Calum Chambers have all left in loan and permanent deals.

Furthermore, their rivals have also not strengthened at present. Tottenham look the most likely with Dejan Kulusevski and Rodrigo Bentancur expected to arrive from Juventus. Yet, both players are not significant upgrades on the existing options for Antonio Conte.

Whereas Manchester United, West Ham and Chelsea have all so far decided to stick with their current crop of players.

Chelsea looked active to try and bring in cover for the injured Ben Chilwell, however, were unsuccessful in attempting to agree on a break in Emerson’s loan deal with Lyon.

All these factors combined make Arsenal’s own lack of business all the more frustrating. The opportunity to take the team to the top four could be slipping away.

Arsenal will travel to United, Spurs and West Ham’s grounds in the