Arsenal news: Julian Alvarez January plan surfaces with Mikel Arteta left 'unhappy'

Arsenal have faced considerable scrutiny for their transfer activity - or apparent lack of - this week. The Premier League champions’ end to the transfer window was underwhelming compared to some of their domestic rivals.

To his credit, sporting director Andrea Berta still strengthened Mikel Arteta’s side by signing five new players worth a combined £200million. Piero Hincapie’s deal was made permanent, Illan Meslier arrived as a free agent and the impressive trio of Christos Tzolis, Bruno Guimaraes and Ezri Konsa gave Arsenal supporters reason to get excited.

But, as the window drew to a close, it became clearer that the north Londoners would not sign the world class forward player that Arteta had desperately wanted this summer. That left a bitter taste in the mouth, especially as key forwards like Gabriel Martinelli and Leandro Trossard’s departures have seemingly left the forward line weakened.

It remains to be seen how Arsenal will fare without the big-name left-winger they clearly need. Here, Mirror Football looks ahead to the January transfer window and examines two of the latest stories involving the Gunners.

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Ian Wright believes Arteta will be unhappy with how the transfer window unfolded. The Arsenal legend cited the Gunners’ failure to bring in a marquee forward as the reason, specifically mentioning Morgan Rogers’ eventual move to Chelsea as a cause for frustration.

Wright said on the Stick to Football podcast: "It’s not a disastrous window but if I’m Mikel, I wouldn’t be happy with how this window has gone simply because we’ve gone another window where we have not got that forward.

"Mikel has talked about getting players to take us to that level, he did it again after Paris (Champions League final), where we didn’t have that player to break them. That is the player Mikel wanted. They chased Vini until the end of the earth and left Morgan Rogers dangling."

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Gary Neville argued on the show that Arsenal didn’t need Rogers but Wright insisted Arteta would have seen him as a big part of the project. The former striker added: "I think we did need Rogers.

"You say we have got those types of players but that is what Mikel wanted. It is a position where we need that player. Of course Saka is back, Odegaard is back, Havertz is back and playing together, but he wanted that difference-maker. He [Rogers] is the one we were linked with ages ago and he would have loved to have come, I can feel it."

Rogers was widely reported to be Arteta’s preferred attacking signing in the summer. However, after biding their time despite agreeing personal terms with the former Aston Villa midfielder, the market - namely Elliot Anderson's move to Manchester City - allowed Villa to demand a higher fee. Arsenal were unwilling to meet Rogers’ new price-tag and he ended up completing a £117m transfer to rivals Chelsea.

Alongside their failure to land Rogers, Arsenal also fell short in their pursuit of ambitious alternatives such as Vinicius Junior and Julian Alvarez. Both La Liga stars ended up remaining at their respective clubs for different reasons.

Vinicius, who had reportedly agreed personal terms with the Gunners, signed an improved new contract offer from Real Madrid after the Spanish giants decided the Brazilian was too important to leave. Alvarez, meanwhile, was forced to pick between staying at Atletico or joining Arsenal and opted for the former, having had his dream move to Barcelona blocked by the club.

However, The Independent reports Arsenal could look at both Alvarez and Vinicius again in January, once the window reopens. The report claims the Gunners are likely to do business in the new year if Arteta finds himself short of attacking options again due to injuries, and that the duo’s situations might have changed by then, leading them to seek a move to north London.

It also states that Bournemouth’s Eli Junior Kroupi will "almost certainly" be an option. Arsenal were reportedly keen to sign the forward, whose goal against Manchester City handed them the title last season, prior to his injury in pre-season.