Arsenal enjoyed a solid, if unspectacular, January transfer window with only two loan signings arriving through the doors at the Emirates.
Gunners head coach Mikel Arteta was desperate to strengthen his back line to boost the north London club's chances of Champions League qualification.
And the Arsenal hierarchy obliged by sealing loan deals for centre-back Pablo Mari, who joined from Flamengo, and Cedric Soares from Southampton.
Speaking from their Dubai training camp at the weekend, Arteta said he was excited to see his new signings in action.
"The new players that we have, it is a great opportunity for them to spend time together with the other players, get to know each other, live together - the same with the backroom staff as well," he said.
I think it will be a very important break.
"With Pablo a little bit more than Cedric, but we have to go step by step. He is a new player and I am sure he is very excited and wants to prove everything in three days, so we have to manage him wisely."
The Gunners were also linked with some bigger names such as Bayern Munich centre-back Jerome Boateng and RB Leipzig's Dayot Upamecano.
Upamecano in particular, remains a long-term Arsenal target with reports claiming that a £40million bid was made last summer for the 21-year-old.
The defender has also been linked to Tottenham, Manchester City and Bayern Munich, with Arsenal set to face stiff competition for the highly-rated centre back if they decide to make a future move.
And Arsenal's head of football Raul Sanllehi has previously admitted that the club have earmarked the end of the season to make any serious bids.
"Globally, it's not the strategic window. By definition, that's the summer window," said Sanllehi.
"That's when you plan the season ahead. Last summer we did an incredible effort where we were very grateful for the support we got from our ownership to really go one step further and make, as I said, a real investment to increase our expectations for the season.
"The winter window is much more tactical. Now we're going to have conversations between Edu and Mikel to see what things we can do or what we should do.
"But again, the strategical window and the one that Edu and his team are always working for in the longer term is the summer window."
