Like several of their competitors, the January transfer window was more about outgoings than incomings at Arsenal - although the loan signing of Martin Odegaard could represent a very sensible piece of business if the attacking midfielder performs like he did at Real Sociedad.
The headline, however, was getting Mesut Ozil off the books in addition to Sokratis, Sead Kolasinac and Shkodran Mustafi as Mikel Arteta sought to trim his squad of high-earning fat.
So what does it mean for the summer window? In all likelihood some more of the same.
This is evidently a squad requiring further improvements, despite the signs of encouragement from academy players in recent weeks, and the extent of their ability to enhance the team ahead of next season will depend on qualifying for Europe.
The absence of Champions League football continues to hurt Arsenal, with recent reports from Deloitte and KPMG indicating that they are falling behind the continent’s elite in terms of financial strength.
Despite the upturn in form since Christmas, even Europa League qualification looks tricky with so many sides vying for a top-six finish and being out of the FA Cup has closed another potential route.
Failure to reach Europe at all is likely to see the belt tightened even more, which may ramp up the pressure on technical director Edu to strike some leftfield deals and unearth a gem or two come the summer.
There has been much focus on the £120million Bank of England loan in recent weeks (a scheme that Tottenham Hotspur also availed of last year), which cannot be used on acquiring new assets.
Considering they have had to make off-field staff redundant in the past 12 months, spending freely in the transfer market will look appalling to those who still consider optics important unless funds are raised from other areas - including player sales.
Expect the summer to be a window where Arsenal seek to strengthen but financial restraints will mean young players and ageing free agents rather than stars in their prime are the targets.
