Arsenal have Chelsea to thank for the signing of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
More specifically Blues director Marina Granovskaia.
Cast your mind back to the 2018 January transfer window where the two London rivals were involved in a triple transfer merry-go-round which wasn't concluded until deadline day.
The Gunners wanted to bring Aubameyang from Borussia Dortmund, but that deal hinged on two other factors.
One being the Bundesliga outfit had eyes on Michy Batshuayi as a replacement, although that would have left the Blues short of options in attack and Granovskaia wasn't prepared for such a scenario to play out.
As a result - in a story told by ex-Arsenal transfer chief Dick Law - the Chelsea director played a big part in the Gunners breaking their transfer record to land Aubameyang.
"The Aubameyang deal was crazy because Giroud wanted out," Law told Goal. "Chelsea were loaning Michy Batshuayi to Dortmund and Aubameyang was coming to us.
"It was the three-way deal.
"Dortmund said if we don’t get the player from Chelsea, then Aubameyang doesn’t leave and, of course, if we didn’t get Aubameyang, we weren’t going to let Giroud go.
"In football, we don’t end up talking to our counterparts on a personal basis very much, but we were at such loggerheads during that three-way move that I called Marina [Granovskaia] and said everything was going to live or die on the three of us trusting each other.
"I’ve got so much respect for Marina, she’s always been a straight shooter.
"And she said if we get Giroud, we will loan our player to Dortmund and then you guys can sort yourselves out with them. And that’s what happened."
The three-way deal has worked out for all parties.
Aubameyang has been an excellent signing for the Gunners, although Olivier Giroud did come back to haunt his former club in the Europa League final last season.
