The season is over, and Arsenal find themselves in a familiar situation internally. They are in second place for a third campaign in a row without silverware, and pressure on Mikel Arteta to win something after his team's rise continues to mount.
For Arsenal, there are obvious contexts behind why what happened did indeed come to pass. Arteta has made it clear almost weekly the stresses and strains that his side has dealt with. He believes that he and his squad have done something by reaching the heights they did that perhaps no other side has or could.
But those with a binary look at the game will care little and the lack of a trophy for a fifth season running, made worse by their north London rivals lifting the Europa League and ending a 17-year wait has only worsened that angst. The summer transfer window is without question the broad solution to the issues that have curtailed the Gunners' hopes of reaching their ultimate goals.
Speaking of goals, for the first time in 101 years, the club lacked a league goalscorer who made it into double digits. Arteta maintained that this was, of course, incurred by the aforementioned problems when put to him by football.london after the win over Southampton.
"In order to achieve that, a lot of things have to happen," he replied. "The team has to provide, that player has to play a certain amount of minutes and games.
"Believe me, we are on it. We will try to squeeze and think and turn every stone that we possibly can to make this club even more successful.
"But I think what these boys have done, the team has done, regarding everything that has happened, I repeat myself, I think this deserves a lot of credit."
Leaving no stone unturned is a great line, but one that will leave fans with great expectations ahead of the market. Thankfully, plenty of groundwork has already been put in place and early deals are something Arteta would like.
One such move will be for Martin Zubimendi, with whom the club are due to reach an agreement with Real Sociedad to bring him to the club this summer. Having turned down a move to Liverpool in 2024, he will finally make the switch to the Premier League but to north London instead.
With Thomas Partey's future still uncertain despite Arteta publicly stating a desire for him to stay at the club and sign a new deal, Zubimendi will add the depth that would have been missed without the Ghanaian. His known quality could improve on what the Gunners have even if Partey stays.
Then comes the area everyone knows the club would love to strengthen. Recent weeks have seen Arteta mention goals and in particular, used the word firepower. The striker remains the biggest priority overall despite the speed that they have succeeded in a potential deal for Zubimendi.
The two leading candidates are Benjamin Sesko and Viktor Gyokeres, football.london understands. The issue the Gunners have is that their dream option, Alexander Isak, is out of reach - even more so after Newcastle qualified for the UEFA Champions League - with some help from some very questionable officiating denying Aston Villa their place.
It is still unclear which of the two players Arsenal will move for as a priority at this stage with Andrea Berta, the club's new sporting director, understood to be holding talks across many different profiles. Arteta admitted after the game on Sunday that some plans will be finalised with Berta and Josh Kroenke this week ahead of the summer, potentially alluding to the striker preference.
The third positive is in the wide area with links again wide-reaching among targets. Rodrygo has been the most prominent name to emerge in recent weeks as the club assesses potential market opportunities that emerge.
One key reason the club does not always rush into decisions at the start of the window is to avoid missing out on potential gems that might emerge later, which, sadly, they are blocked from pursuing by earlier deals. Nico Williams, Ademola Lookman, and Antoine Semenyo are all also believed to be on the list of candidates, especially considering all can play in multiple positions, a trait Arteta appreciates in any player.
The market will open on June 1st before closing again on June 10th, reopening on June 16th and running through until the earlier deadline of 7pm on September 1st. However, work for Arsenal and their transfers began some time ago, and now is the time to see the fruit of such labour and what exactly Berta is capable of in this new role.