It seemed nailed on that Eddie Nketiah was going to make the switch to south London and join Crystal Palace after serious interest was shown by Patrick Vieira.
The two clubs had been negotiating a deal which led to the Eagles tabling an £8 million bid but it was rejected as the Gunners valued him at around £12 million.
With the two clubs unable to find an agreement, Crystal Palace switched their attention towards Odsonne Edouard and are on the verge of completing his signing for around £15 million.
This rubs salt into the Arsenal wounds, because if the transfer business from the north London club for outgoings were conducted correctly, then Odsonne Edouard could have certainly been an option as a backup striker for the Gunners.
Nketiah has less than 12 months remaining on his contract and The Athletic previously reported that despite the Englishman’s contract expiring next summer, Arsenal are yet to agree terms on a new deal, showing the player's intent to move on.
The 22-year-old came through Arsenal’s Hale End academy and has played 38 games for the first team, scoring five goals in the process.
It has been clear since the end of the last season that the Gunners were going to offload the youngster, which makes it even more unexplainable that Arsenal have only received an offer so close to the deadline.
Taking into consideration that Nketiah has captained his country at under-21 level and is the record goal-scorer with 16 – this once again shows Arsenal’s failure with outgoings in this market.
The situation surrounding Alexandre Lacazette's future only adds to the problem. He's another striker who has just one year left on his contract and now looks set to be leaving on a free transfer next summer.
What makes matters worse is that the Gunners signed him for £50m in 2017 so the club will be cutting huge losses without getting any fee in return.
Keeping two want-away players at the club has blocked the move for fresh ideas when it comes to the striker position.
Edouard would have been a breath of fresh air at the club and perfect backup for Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
The 23-year-old has 57 league goals in 78 games for Celtic and just like Nketiah, he holds the record for the most goals at under-21 level for his country.
The Frenchman also has Champions League experience to add to his excellent goal-scoring record, so it would have been a shrewd signing for Mikel Arteta's side considering the price he was available for.
Instead, Arsenal now find themselves with two strikers who look set to go on a free transfer next summer which is going against the squad overhaul that Arteta had promised.
