Arsenal may have missed out on a Champions League spot in the final weeks of last season, but their top-four heartbreak hasn't prevented Mikel Arteta from pulling off some seriously impressive work in the transfer market.
Arteta has already sealed deals for Gabriel Jesus, Fabio Vieira, Matt Turner and Marquinhos, and he is now on the brink of snapping up Oleksandr Zinchenko from Manchester City for £30million. The Spaniard was also backed handsomely by the Gunners hierarchy last summer, where he spent more than £140m on a clutch of hungry young talent.
The likes of Aaron Ramsdale, Ben White and Martin Odegaard all arrived at the Emirates Stadium for substantial sums - but Arsenal's lavish spending spree was not enough to end their painful Champions League exile.
And after their traumatic start to last season, Micah Richards was adamant that the club's transfer strategy smacked of a club in a major rut. Speaking last August, he told Five Live Sport: "At this moment, Arsenal can't attract the top, top players, because players want to go to the better performing teams at this moment in time.
"When you say they've spent a lot of money, they're buying second-tier players, or players with good potential who could become that.
"You should think that the manager's got some input in the players that they're getting. But I just think with Arsenal now, they've got themselves in such a rut, they've done a couple of panic buys."
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But 12 months on, it's clear that the current 'Arsenal project' is more attractive than it's been for years under Arteta - and the club's transfer strategy is one of the main reasons why.
Pep Guardiola's unpredictable selection policy at Manchester City means that nobody can really be considered a bonafide starter, but Jesus and Zinchenko were integral members of a squad that has dominated domestically under Guardiola's premiership.
The fact that the Gunners have been able to acquire players like Jesus and Zinchenko - two stars who could have quite easily opted to stay with the reigning Premier League champions - speaks volumes. But it was the impressive groundwork that Arteta laid last summer that has ultimately enabled the Londoners to complete those deals this year.
Arsenal still have work to do to get themselves back amongst the Premier League's elite, but there has been real progress made in the capital. The club are no longer pursuing "second-rate" players; they are now signing quality players who are proven at the very top level.
Despite Richards' claim, Arsenal have proved this summer that they can attract top players again - even without the lure of Champions League football.
