Have Arsenal become the laughing stock of Europe this summer?

As another summer transfer window comes and goes for fans of the Premier League and European football alike – bringing with it its fair share of excitement for some and the usual disappointment for others – the Emirates faithful once again go into the rest of the season under a distinct cloud of transfer-fuelled frustration.

Although Arsenal certainly didn’t lose any star players throughout the ever-competitive summer months, a notion Arsene Wenger’s side would have nonetheless reluctantly bowed down to in seasons past, the Gunners ultimately proved equally inactive in terms of sourcing fresh new talent for the rest of the 2015/16 campaign.

For one reason or another, the previously conceived pattern of sourcing at least one marquee name every summer for a decently sized investment – such as the signing of Mesut Ozil in 2013, followed by Alexis Sanchez’ arrival in 2014 – simply failed to re-surface once more at the Emirates this summer, marking a clear statement of intent from the club itself.

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If Arsenal can’t land the specific targets seemingly placed on their already conservative radar, then it looks like the Gunners aren’t particularly interested in signing anyone at all these days.

So then, in light of such an emotive talking point currently circulating in and around the Emirates faithful at the moment, has Arsenal’s somewhat embarrassing lack of transfer activity turned them into the unforeseen laughing stock of Europe this summer?

Well, although such a statement may initially seem slightly over-stated, perhaps there is an undeniable truth behind it that even the most biased Arsenal supporter would have to acknowledge with all things considered. It just doesn’t seem right that a club as widely backed as this one, with ambitious dreams of landing the league title this term, felt the need to act so indecisively throughout the entire summer transfer period.

Since the Gunners only saw fit to contribute a meagre £11 million to the incredible £850 million spent across every Premier League club this transfer window, Arsene Wenger’s side have clearly shown themselves to be a tad careful when it comes to splashing the cash this season.

Although such a seemingly unsustainable approach admittedly feels like it will eventually end in disaster somewhere down the line, no team in the English top-flight can compete in the modern era unless some strong squad improvement is taken out each summer.

The likes of Chelsea and Manchester City, with their relatively recent influx of externally sourced resources, are partially the ones the blame for such an increasingly alarming trend within the Premier League at the moment – but if Arsenal ultimately want to be competing with them for the league title once in a while these days – then Arsene Wenger simply has no other choice but to join his rivals in the hunt for impressive new talent with every passing season.

After all, it’s not as if Wenger currently reigns over a fully-fit squad with enough strength in depth to launch a meaningful challenge on the Premier League title or among the Champions League this season, is it? When it all comes down to it, Arsenal simply needed players this summer to match their fans’ increasingly impatient desire for more silverware, yet the North Londoners somehow go down as the only team in Europe’s top five leagues who failed to sign an outfielder this summer.

Francis Coquelin now remains the only standout name for Arsene Wenger in the defensive midfield position, so if the inevitable eventually happens and the Frenchman suffers a frustrating injury at some point this term, the Emirates faithful could potentially be watching Mathieu Flamini once again operating in the starting XI. No matter which way you look at it, such a change in fortunes would nonetheless represent a clear step backwards for Arsenal Football Club.

As each of Olivier Giroud, Theo Walcott and the now injured Danny Welbeck, all seemingly look somewhat out of place in Wenger’s preferred system of attack in the modern era, the Gunners have also given themselves a potential headache in the striking department to contend with as well this season.

In the end, it seems Arsenal simply aren’t as ambitious as their fans have been led to believe. The Emirates faithful may be targeting that all important league title this season – but amongst the financially driven boardroom staff behind the scenes at the club – staying in the top four is seemingly all that really matters.

For a team that once proved oh so ‘invincible’ in the Premier League, such a flat outcome ultimately remains nothing more than a mere joke in the cold light of day.

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