Riccardo Calafiori was the Gunners’ first summer signing, before Mikel Merino then linked up with Arsenal towards the end of August.
Arsenal then made two signings on transfer deadline day, with Neto joining on loan from Bournemouth before Raheem Sterling arrived from Chelsea.
Although the Gunners will no doubt be satisfied with how they fared in the window, there was one player they “really, really wanted” but failed to sign.
The player in question is Espanyol goalkeeper Joan Garcia, and Fabrizio Romano has now explained why Arsenal missed out on him.
Arsenal target Joan Garcia is ‘untouchable’ at Espanyol
Romano, speaking on the Here We Go podcast, said Arsenal were desperate to sign Garcia and even had an agreement with him.
However, Espanyol deemed the 23-year-old too important to relinquish and, as such, they rejected the offers Arsenal made for him.
“The player they wanted for the goal was a new goalkeeper, Joan Garcia,” said Romano. “He was the player they really, really wanted.
“Since June, they had an agreement in place with the goalkeeper of the Spanish under-21 national team.
“He was a fantastic part of the Espanyol project. He is a crucial part of the Espanyol project, and because of this he’s untouchable in this moment.
“So Espanyol, with two proposals from Arsenal on the deadline, decided to reject them.”
Will Arsenal move for Garcia again in future?
On deadline day, journalist Ryan Taylor claimed that Arsenal were likely to fall short for Garcia this summer.
However, he also said the Gunners are “expected” to revisit the deal in future.
Neto’s move to Arsenal is only a loan as things stand, so this leaves the door open for the Gunners to move for Garcia in future.
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