A late pivot to focus on the forward line led to an opportunistic attempt to sign Ollie Watkins and discussions over Alvaro Morata

The pursuit of Ollie Watkins was ‘not unanimous’ at Arsenal before Mikel Arteta’s ‘stance won out’ with the Aston Villa striker ‘excited’ at the prospect of joining. Arsenal were keen to bring in another attacker before the transfer deadline with the Gunners looking at a number of options before eventually make an offer for Aston Villa’s Watkins.

Arsenal are facing competition from Real Madrid in their pursuit of Martin Zubimendi, who rejected the chance to join Liverpool last summer in order to stay at Real Sociedad