Arsenal claimed their first league title in 22 years last season and came within a penalty shootout of a historic domestic-and-European double. Yet despite that platform of success, manager Mikel Arteta entered the summer window with a clear priority: find a game-changing attacker capable of taking the squad to the next level.

It did not happen.

The forwards Arsenal chased

Sporting director Andrea Berta pursued multiple targets at once, as is his custom. Arsenal held interest in Morgan Rogers, Bradley Barcola, Julian Alvarez, and Vinicius Jr — and signed none of them.

The pursuit of Vinicius Jr became public knowledge and centred on his contract situation at Real Madrid. Ultimately, Real Madrid offered the winger a more lucrative deal than Arsenal could match, though sources inside the club reportedly believed for a period that the transfer was achievable.

Arsenal valued Rogers at £80m, only for Chelsea to pay £117m to Aston Villa for the midfielder-turned-forward. Barcola moved to Liverpool, a club Arsenal had long had reservations about matching financially. That left Alvarez as the final realistic option — but despite Arteta personally laying out his plans to the Atletico Madrid striker, the Argentine chose to remain in Spain.

What Arsenal did do

The Gunners were not inactive. Newcastle United captain Bruno Guimaraes arrived for £75m, widely regarded as one of the standout signings of the window. Ezri Konsa came from Aston Villa for £55m — the defender posted a ground-duel success rate of 73.1 percent and a passing accuracy of 95 percent last season. Piero Hincapie's loan was made permanent for £34.5m, and Christos Tzolis joined from Club Brugge for £34m.

On the outgoing side, Gabriel Martinelli is close to completing a move to Al-Hilal for around £60m — a club record sale. Leandro Trossard departed to Besiktas for £15.3m, Christian Norgaard was sold to Everton for £7m, and Gabriel Jesus moved to Barcelona for £12.8m.

The left-wing question

With both Martinelli and Trossard gone, Arsenal have lost two left-sided forwards in a single window and brought in only one wide attacker to offset those departures. Chief executive Richard Garlick has spoken publicly about Arsenal's ambition to join the world's elite clubs, and acknowledged that the pool of players capable of improving the squad is shrinking. This summer underlined that reality.

Viktor Gyokeres, signed for £64m last summer from Sporting, scored 21 goals in his debut season — yet questions about his long-term suitability for Arteta's system have persisted, and he has not featured in either of the opening two Premier League matches.

Eberechi Eze could benefit from the additional left-wing minutes now available to him, having impressed in that role during Arsenal's run-in and again in the opening-day win over Aston Villa. Kai Havertz and Mikel Merino, both disrupted by injury last season, have started this campaign fully fit — which adds attacking depth that was absent for much of the previous campaign.

Are Arsenal still title contenders?

Arsenal's squad remains one of the strongest in Europe. The bench in their win over Aston Villa included nine full internationals, among them World Cup winners Merino and Zubimendi. Early signs suggest they remain Premier League title favourites.

But the absence of a marquee forward will be a source of scrutiny all season. Questions for Arteta, Berta, and co-chair Josh Kroenke are inevitable — and will grow louder if goals prove hard to come by.