Arsenal are coming out of the transfer window with youngster Albert Sambi Lokonga as their only central midfield signing.
Fans of the club had been calling out for more depth and quality in this position as there has been a clear lack of creativity from midfield last season at the start of this.
However, after the contract extension of Granit Xhaka, transfer links to other midfielders seemed to evaporate.
This offers some cause for concern for the Gunners due to the African Cup of Nations taking place in January which will see two Arsenal midfielders likely take part.
Thomas Partey will be at the tournament to represent Ghana, whilst Mohamed Elneny will be playing for Egypt as he did at the 2018 World Cup.
This does not bode well for Arsenal because it now means the club will be extremely short in this area with Xhaka and Lokonga the only natural first-team players available in midfield during Partey and Elneny's respective absences.
The competition is set to take place between January 9th and February 6th with players travelling before the start of the tournament to meet up with their respective squads.
This means that the two midfielders could miss three Premier League games during this time, one of which is the north London derby away to Spurs and the third and fourth rounds of the FA Cup which could ultimately amount to five games in total.
With Partey and Elneny absent during such a crucial period of games, it begs the question as to why Arsenal didn't sign another central midfielder before the end of the window.
The Gunners had been heavily linked to the 23-year-old Houssem Aouar but a deal did not materialise and it ultimately leaves them short in a crucial area of the field.
There had been a clamour among supporters for Arsenal to bring Aouar in ahead of the deadline but the Frenchman stayed put and there had also been strong links with Italian midfielder Manuel Locatelli earlier in the window but he decided to stay in Italy and sign for Juventus instead.
Arsenal's links with midfielders earlier in the window at least show that their intention to sign at least two central midfielders was initially there but they had a change of plans.
This could be due to the contract extension of Granit Xhaka. It seemed nailed on that the Swiss captain was departing for AS Roma, only for the deal to break down after the clubs could not come to an agreement on a fee.
The club seemingly think that it is safe to rely on Xhaka and Lokonga with Ainsley Maitland-Niles potentially covering as a midfielder in a long winter month which could go a long way towards shaping their season.
The Gunners are certainly risking a lack of depth in central midfield by not signing another player along with Xhaka and Lokonga in midfield.
