Arsenal’s 21-man transfer window wishlist included Tottenham stars and new Leeds man

Arsenal’s ambitious summer transfer shortlist featured two Tottenham players and others who moved to different Premier League clubs.

The window closed with the Gunners having made five new signings for the defence of their Premier League title – but the list of targets they did not land makes for fascinating reading.

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Arsenal eyed Spurs duo

BBC Sport revealed Arsenal‘s 21-player shortlist that included the likes of Morgan Rogers and Bradley Barcola – who joined Chelsea and Liverpool respectively.

But perhaps most eye-catching of all is the presence of Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven – both of Spurs, the Gunners’ arch-rivals who no player has left directly for Arsenal since Sol Campbell 25 years ago.

Tarik Muharemovic, who made his way to Leeds from Sassuolo, and Alex Scott – who ended up staying at Bournemouth amid links to a number of Premier League clubs – were among the other names on the list.

Arsenal did not do any business on deadline day – or indeed in the last 11 days of the transfer window.

The Gunners’ final signing proved to be Ezri Konsa, who arrived from Aston Villa.

He joined Illan Meslier, Christos Tzolis and £75m man Bruno Guimaraes at the Emirates Stadium.

Arsenal also exercised their option to make title winner Piero Hincapie’s loan move from Bayer Leverkusen permanent.

Nonetheless, Mikel Arteta‘s side still missed out on bringing some seriously big hitters to north London.

And there were none more so than Vinicius Junior, another player on the shortlist.

The Brazil superstar would have been one of the most prominent signings in Premier League history, but he ultimately signed a new contract with Real Madrid.

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Arsenal’s summer shortlist

Arteta satisfied

On the whole, though, Arteta was happy with Arsenal’s summer business.

After last season’s Champions League final defeat to Paris Saint-Germain, the Gunners manager underlined the need for the club to show great ambition in the transfer market. He said: “We will have to start making some very important decisions if we want to reach another level.

“We are going to have to show that ambition because we are more than capable of doing it, but it is going to demand us to be very ambitious, very fast and very smart.”

Asked if he felt Arsenal had achieved that, he replied: “Yeah, 100 per cent [all the boxes have been] ticked. The outcome after can be different to what you expect, but the intention was certainly there, which is, in my opinion, what I value the most.”

Next up for Arsenal

Having won their opening two Premier League games without conceding, the champions’ biggest test of the season so far comes on Sunday.

They entertain London rivals Chelsea, another side with a 100 per cent record at this early stage of the campaign, with Arteta coming up against his long-time friend Xabi Alonso in the opposing dugout.