When Mikel Arteta revealed before Arsenal’s win at Aston Villa that he had pleaded with the Premier League to introduce bigger matchday squads, the final 24 hours of the transfer window was not quite what he would have had in mind. A deadline day on which Manchester City matched the British record to sign Enzo Fernández from Chelsea for £125 million (€145 million) came and went as Arsenal allowed Gabriel Jesus and Ethan Nwaneri to leave without bringing in replacements.With Gabriel Martinelli expected to join Al-Hilal before Sunday’s deadline in Saudi Arabia for a fee that could rise to £60 million (€70 million), there are question marks about the depth of the champions’ squad, despite Arteta still having at least two options for each position. Eberechi Eze will provide competition on the left for the new boy Christos Tzolis, and the manager has a plethora of central midfielders at his disposal after the arrival of Bruno Guimarães from Newcastle, but there is not much room for manoeuvre should Arsenal experience injuries in attack like they have for the past two seasons.Arteta had been clear after the Villa game when asked whether he hoped to bring in more players. “We know that the depth has to be really big when you are fighting for four competitions in the manner that we play as well, so we’re going to try to do that,” he said.Yet none arrived as Arsenal passed up the opportunity to bring in Malick Fofana owing to what it is understood were Arteta’s doubts over whether the Belgium forward would improve the squad, with Sunderland eventually beating Crystal Palace to his signature in dramatic scenes. The fallout has prompted some Arsenal supporters to question the wisdom of spending most of the summer, after missing out on Morgan Rogers to Chelsea, chasing “dream” transfer targets such as Vinícius Júnior and Julián Alvarez, with the sporting director, Andrea Berta, most in the firing line.The Italian’s arrival from Atlético Madrid in March 2025 was heralded as a coup by many. Berta’s decisiveness last summer enabled Arsenal to rack up a net spend of more than £250 million (€291 million) – comfortably outstripping their rivals – on players such as Eze, Viktor Gyökeres and Martín Zubimendi.This summer the Premier League champions were quick off the mark to replace Leandro Trossard with Tzolis, then added Guimarães, before buying Ezri Konsa to cover the long-term absence of William Saliba, but the lack of attacking reinforcements on deadline day was eye-catching.Offloading Jesus, one of the club’s highest earners, saved wages, and Martinelli’s departure as the club’s record sale would reduce Arsenal’s net spend to £78 million (€91 million) – less than Brentford’s – compared with £162 million (€188 million) at City, who spent more than £300 million (€349 million) recalibrating their midfield. Iliman Ndiaye, who joined City from Everton for £65 million (€76 million), was another player on Arsenal’s shortlist who they opted against.Gabriel Martinelli is expected to join Al-Hilal before Sunday’s deadline in Saudi Arabia: Bradley Collyer/PA