Edu’s failure to offload all the wantaway players in the summer transfer window prevented Mikel Arteta from almost completing a full squad rebuild.
According to Fabrizio Romano, Arsenal were interested in signing Tammy Abraham but only if they could free up the striker positions.
Eddie Nketiah and Alexandre Lacazette had both been transfer-listed by Edu, but neither player was able to be sold.
The Gunners strengthened in every department during the transfer window, except the striker roles which has backfired so far in this campaign.
Abraham ended up joining Roma in a £40m deal from Chelsea in the summer after he was deemed surplus to requirements by Thomas Tuchel.
It was reported that the Englishman wanted to join Arsenal, and the Gunners were interested in pursuing a deal, but they had to offload one of the strikers beforehand.
Nketiah seemed to be on his way out of the club after It looked like he 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.
A deal never managed to materialise, and halfway through the season, the Englishman continues to reject contract extensions that have been offered by Arsenal.
Keeping two want-away players in Nketiah and Lacazette at the club had blocked the move for fresh ideas when it came to the striker position.
The Gunners have been made to pay the price for not strengthening in that position this season, as Arteta’s side looks weak in the attacking phase and have one of the lowest scoring records in the Premier League.
Abraham wouldn’t have been the answer to Arsenal’s attacking problems but his blocked move highlighted the difficulty in strengthening the attacking areas.
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