Arsenal will surely regret not landing Lyon midfielder Houssem Aouar

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Arsenal enjoyed a fairly productive summer overall in the transfer window, despite leaving it until the last minute to sign Atletico Madrid midfielder, Thomas Partey.

The club spent around £77.7m, according to Talksport, while they also fetched in £20m from the sale of Emi Martinez to Aston Villa.

Importantly for the Gunners, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang signed a new deal, while the likes of Ainsley Maitland-Niles stayed put and the Gunners snapped up the impressive Gabriel Magalhaes too.

But it was the signing of Partey that got a lot of the attention on deadline day. A long-term target for Mikel Arteta, Partey should add steel, drive, and a winning mentality to the Arsenal midfield.

However, there is also a sense over regret when you look at the Gunners’ transfer plans. For so long, it looked like they would also sign Lyon star, Houssem Aouar. But they missed out on the Frenchman, with the 22-year-old opting to stay in Ligue 1 for now.

And you can’t help but think that missing out on Aouar might well prove to be one of Arsenal’s biggest regrets this summer.

On another level

While Partey’s arrival will provide something extra to the middle of the park for Arsenal, the likes of Granit Xhaka, Dani Ceballos, and Mohamed Elneny are not what most football fans would call ‘world-class’ footballers.

Sure, they do a job in the middle. Xhaka breaks play up. Ceballos has a bit of quality, while Elneny is doing surprisingly well.

But none of them are in the same bracket of Aouar. This is a player who, for years, has drawn admiring glances from around Europe with his performances for Lyon. Pep Guardiola is a known admirer, while Mikel Arteta courted him all summer, too.

The 22-year-old has that touch of class and almost air of arrogance about his place. He is versatile, being able to play deep, further forward, and even wide if needed. Furthemore, nine goals and ten assists last season show he influences things in an attacking sense too.

So, while Arsenal’s window was a positive one in the main, missing out on Aouar might prove costly. Time will, of course, tell. But there will definitely be Gunners fans out there feeling a tinge of disappointment.