Arsenal didn't expect to be in the position of competing with Europe's top clubs for players this summer but here they are. Jude Bellingham appears to be over the sunset and on his way to Real Madrid but there are other fish in the sea for the Gunners to go searching for.
Their massively improved season - which could still culminate in an unlikely Premier League title win - has put them back among the elite of world football once more. They have Champions League football to offer, one of the highest-rated young coaches around and a stadium plus squad environment to thrive in.
It's a transfer window they won't have been expecting last year but now it's coming around, they can't afford to let it go. With this in mind, Arsenal need to do their best to rival clubs competing with them in the market.
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Chelsea were the major favourites for Declan Rice but have thrown away their lead in that race by collapsing this campaign. LIverpool were in the hunt for Bellingham but had their own slump. Arsenal can take advantage of their opponents' weak moment and capitalise.
It could mean going in and getting involved in transfer battles, not something they have become acustomed to winning. Mykhailo Mudryk ignored Arsenal's cries in January in order to get an early move while Moises Caicedo was left stranded between Brighton, Chelsea and Arsenal in the winter, too.
Before that they were dipping into a world of players effectively without competition - not many clubs would have backed £30m on a relegated goalkeeper or £50m for Ben White at the time. Ahead of the window the circumstances have changed.
Whereas Liverpool are stepping up their bid to sign Brighton's World Cup winning Alexis Mac Allister, Arsenal should be in there too. There isn't much that Jurgen Klopp can offer the 24-year-old that Arteta and sporting director Edu can't.
In that sense, this is a deal to be all over. Mac Allister is expected to leave the south coast this summer with an early transfer likely as well. Although Paul Barber and Tony Bloom drive a tight ship at the AMEX Stadium, they will do business.
“We’re very fortunate from a financial point of view that we’re not a club that has to sell players to survive,” Barber has explained. That doesn't mean that they won't, though. Brighton back themselves to have the next Mac Allister before they are drawn to offers for their best players and have created a remarkably self-sustaining player development line.
It means that if Arsenal wanted to be aggressive here, they could be in with a shout. It's not the way that they have worked in the past but given the lack of squad depth overall, Mac Allister is a player to right on top of.
His father, Carlos, has all-but-revealed that he will be moving on. “Normally the next [transfer window] will find him playing in another club, we don’t know which one," he said earlier this year.
"The talks are just beginning in general, but it is most likely that Alexis will already be playing in another team next July.” It would take at least $66.3m to get him away from Roberto De Zerbi but making it happen is far from impossible.
Arsenal need back-up for their midfield after Thomas Partey's continued injury niggles and the underwhelming first season for Fabio Vieira. Mac Allister is a player, like Leandro Trossard, that has proven himself to be of top level quality and is practically waiting to be bought.
Confrontational isn't usually Arsenal's way but Liverpool have shown themselves to be ruthlessly efficient in the transfer market in recent years, spending $754m on new players since Klopp arrived to bolster their challenge on multiple front.
Their ascent came out of the blue as well following quick and economical transfers, Arsenal have their own blueprint to work with but beating Liverpool to Mac Allister would be the sign of a new, killer edge previously unseen.
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