Arsenal have been in need of a creative midfielder since the start of the window and despite the signing of Martin Odegaard, there appears to still be a lack of creativity from the deeper areas of the pitch.
The north London club have been linked with a flurry of midfielders but deals have failed to materialise.
With it being announced that wonderkid Eduardo Camavinga has joined Real Madrid for a bargain price, it has left a number of fans with cause for regret as they believed the Frenchman could’ve potentially been the answer to the Gunners’ problems.
However, judging on the history of the transfers between Arsenal and Real Madrid, Camavinga could still see himself in red and white in the future.
Los Blancos have changed their transfer approach in recent years which focuses on targeting and recruiting players at a younger age.
Several of those signings have, however, failed to pay off for the Spanish giants. Despite Real bringing in some of the biggest talents in world football, a number of them have failed to become regular first-team members at the Santiago Bernabeu with the likes of Zinedine Zidane placing faith in more experienced first-team players.
The Gunners have had their own personal links to these young signings by bringing in Dani Ceballos for a two-year loan spell.
The Spaniard joined Madrid in 2017 after showing promise at Real Betis where he made 98 appearances and scored 7 goals. However, the same performances would not follow after his move to the capital.
After 35 appearances in two seasons, Ceballos accepted a loan move to Arsenal in the summer of 2019 and would go on to play 48 games across a two-year loan spell.
A similar situation also developed with Martin Odegaard. The 22-year-old joined Real Madrid in 2015 after impressing at Norwegian side Stromgodset.
After failing to break into the squad as a 16-year-old, Odegaard would feature most for the Real Madrid Castilla team before multiple loans to the Dutch league for two seasons.
He then experienced a successful loan spell at Real Sociedad in 2019, which gave him first-team minutes for Madrid.
Despite this, his game time remained limited and Arsenal came calling once again as they agreed a loan deal for the midfielder in the January 2021 transfer window.
This was followed by a permanent transfer this summer after he impressed during his short time in the Premier League.
Taking this into consideration and the difficulty he is likely to face in dislodging the existing midfield options at Real, Camavinga could well follow the same route as the two youngsters who joined Real Madrid as promising midfielders before him.
There have been some suggestions that Carlo Ancelotti sees Camavinga as a long-term replacement for Luka Modric, but the Croatian, Toni Kroos and Casemiro remain a largely immovable midfield trio, with Federico Valverde another central midfield option.
At this moment, Edu and Mikel Arteta have prioritised other areas of the Gunners squad, with Arsenal having refused the opportunity to consider signing French international Houssem Aouar before the transfer deadline despite clamour from supporters.
With Aouar being one of the cheapest and most viable central midfield options, the acquisition of Camavinga was always going to be unlikely at this moment of time as a result. But Real's difficulty in retaining young talents may yet open the door in years to come.
