Arsenal have gone through a tumultuous couple of years, with upheaval both on and off the pitch.
The Gunners have had changes in the boardroom at executive level, director level and three managers in the last 18 months, and results this season have not been great under Mikel Arteta.
But things might have gone differently had the board backed Unai Emery to bring in the players he wanted back in the summer of 2019.
The Athletic reported after Emery was sacked in December 2019 that the manager had drawn up his list of candidates for the summer transfer window - and was not backed to bring in his top three players.
Among those on the list was Thomas Partey, who has now of course signed for the Gunners. His €50million release clause was deemed too expensive at the time, but that was not the case in the last window, despite the effect coronavirus has had on the club's coffers.
Elsewhere, Wilfried Zaha was earmarked by the Spanish manager, and recently revealed that he was keen to join the Gunners after meeting with Emery about a potential move.
However, Arsenal decided to move instead for Nicolas Pepe in a £72million transfer that has not gone to plan, with the Ivory Coast international dropping behind both Willian and now Bukayo Saka in the pecking order for the right-wing position.
This season, Zaha has proved his worth yet again with eight goals in 15 Premier League starts despite Crystal Palace underperforming slightly so far.
Top of Emery's list for defensive recruitments was Harry Maguire, but a move for the Leicester City star was deemed prohibitively expensive.
While his £80million move to Manchester United may have been an exaggerated fee, the move to sign Pepe proves that the Gunners did have the funds available to at least compete for the England international.
Instead, the Gunners opted to move for the relatively untested centre-back William Saliba from Saint-Etienne.
While Saliba has a promising future, the £30million fee it cost to bring in the centre-back is already looking a little steep.
The 19-year-old went back to Saint-Etienne on a year-long loan as part of the deal, and has now sealed a second consecutive year in Ligue 1 with Nice.
Saliba stated that Arteta immediately told him that he was not ready to play in the Premier League after losing his rhythm following the early conclusion of the Ligue 1 2019/20 season.
The centre-back could still come good in north London, and while Maguire has also perhaps not quite lived up to his £80million transfer fee at United so far, it is yet another example of what might have been for the Gunners had they sufficiently backed Emery in the transfer market.
