Per Mertesacker has opened up about Arsenal's transfer dealings ahead of the January window.
The Gunners splashed more than £140million in the summer, more than any other Premier League side.
Technical director Edu brought Aaron Ramsdale, Benjamin White, Nuno Tavares, Takehiro Tomiyasu, Albert Sambi Lokonga and Martin Odegaard to the club - all six of whom were 23 or under at the time they were signed.
This season, Mikel Arteta has regularly fielded the youngest starting XI in the Premier League, a strategy that has so far paid off, given they currently sit fourth in the standings, a huge upgrade on recent seasons - having finished eighth in each of the last two campaigns.
The Spanish coach has begun to find his best line-up, barely tinkering with his team in recent weeks as the attacking quartet of Gabriel Martinelli, Martin Odegaard, Bukayo Saka and Alexandre Lacazette have flourished for the north Londoners over the festive period.
Now, Arsenal academy manager Mertesacker has admitted that the club's transfer business had previously been poor, something they have looked to rectify in recent times.
“We are in a state of upheaval and are building a team capable of development, which should be peppered with players from our own youth and professionals from abroad,” he told German outlet Suddeutsche Zeitung.
“In the meantime, we had lost our way. We tried to make the connection to the top faster with costly commitments. We fell on our face with that.”
The Gunners continue to be linked with a number of top-quality players ahead of the impending winter window, with the likes of Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Jonathan David and Patrik Shick all named as potential targets.
