Arsenal face a race against time to complete a string of outgoing transfers and secure a new midfielder after being dealt a major blow in their pursuit of Houssem Aouar.
Lyon chief executive Jean-Michel Aulas said on Saturday that Aouar would be staying for the remainder of the season though it remains to be seen whether Arsenal will test that resolve further before the transfer window closes with a second bid.
A £32million offer was rejected late last month with Lyon believed to be holding out for £45million with a further £9million in add-ons. Arsenal were prepared to pay an initial £36million for Aouar, Mikel Arteta's top midfield target.
"I told [head coach Rudi Garcia] that we were going to keep [Memphis Depay and Aouar]," Aulas said yesterday. Arsenal may, however, note that the Lyon CEO has been similarly bullish about keeping players in the past only to subsequently part ways with them once his demands were met.
There are alternative options open to the Gunners, who have been linked with a loan swoop for Chelsea playmaker Jorginho. They remain admirers of Thomas Partey but Atletico Madrid remain insistent that he can only leave if a club pays his £45million release clause. Such a sum would have to be paid in full.
Making deals for Aouar or Partey work would be easier if Arsenal were able to trim back a sizeable squad before Monday's 11pm deadline, something they have so far struggled to do. The only first team player to have left for a significant fee has been Emiliano Martinez, who was sold to Aston Villa for £20million.
Lucas Torreira is set to join Atletico Madrid but on a loan without any obligation for the Spanish side to pay a fee to make the transfer permanent. They will, however, hold a purchase option.
At least a further five players are available before the window closes: Sead Kolasinac, Shkodran Mustafi, Sokratis Papastathopoulos, Matteo Guendouzi and Mesut Ozil. However as of Saturday night Arsenal were not close to securing deals to move on any of those players.
Bayer Leverkusen and Arsenal are in talks over a deal for Kolasinac but no agreement had been struck as of late yesterday. Similarly Mustafi, a target for several clubs in Italy, was not close to the Emirates Stadium exit door and is prepared to see out the final year of his contract.
The same is true of Sokratis, who had previously been targeted by Napoli. Guendouzi has caught the eye of several top clubs including Paris Saint-Germain but the player whose sale Arsenal hoped would fund a rebuild of their midfield has so far yet to draw any acceptable bids.
All four may yet find deals in the remaining 36 hours of the window that would allow Arsenal to invest further funds elsewhere.
As things stand Arsenal could also be obliged to leave a senior player out of their first team squad for the remainder of the Premier League season. Even after Torreira's departure the Gunners would have 18 players to fill 17 non-homegrown player slots in their squad provided they make no further sales.
