60 million quid. A Gooner. A confirmed one at that. Ollie Watkins was ready to go. Aston Villa were ready to sell. But at the Villans' price, Arsenal's ambition turned cold. And last week's deadline passed with no movement between the two clubs.
Cycle forward a few days and it's a decision that has blown Arsenal's title chances. Gabriel Jesus, we knew, was out for the season midway through the winter market. ACL surgery ending his campaign. Hamstring issues for Bukayo Saka also has him in traction - again something we knew over January - until late March, at best.
So they warned, were the board. In terms of the attack. In terms of finding enough goals to rein in Prem leaders Liverpool. Yet, they allowed the market to shut without any attacking addition. Instead it would all rest on the shoulders of Kai Havertz. That is, until this week.
Of course, it's old news now. But Havertz's hamstring pull, in the warm weather of Dubai no less, has ended the German's season. And with that, Arsenal lose their top goalscorer. Let's not mince words. For a team and a club that talks about title ambitions, this is not only a disaster, but an embarrassment. This is reverting to the Arsenal of old. To the 'nearly enough is good enough' culture under the latter years of Arsene Wenger. We don't want to say it, but is this club returning to those days of a top four finish being the equal to a title?
Under Mikel Arteta, this column has been bullish about Arsenal. A no-nonsense football man. Full of energy and pure, sheer ambition. And that went fist-on-glove with this board. Shelling out for Gabriel Jesus. Burning off competition for Declan Rice. Arsenal were working the market to build a team to win things.
But today? How can you argue that same case after events of the past fortnight? There was a deal to be done. A readymade, prolific Premier League goalscorer, who at 29, is at the peak of his powers. Villa were ready to sell. And in today's market, at today's prices, is £60m really so outrageous? Particularly for an England international?
And as mentioned, Watkins is Arsenal-mad. A Gooner. Landing a late career move to Arsenal. It's Ian Wright all over again. And you fancy, Watkins - in terms of being that final winning jigsaw piece - has everything in him to make a similar impact.
Five seasons in the top-flight have come with five consecutive campaigns of 10 goals or more. Even this season, Watkins has already broken double figures. As we say, in those final hours of the window, Arsenal were offered a player who was in-form and ready.
"That's the dream, to play for Arsenal one day, but it's a long shot - that's a long-term goal of mine," the England international said back in 2020 while still a Brentford player.
I'm an Arsenal fan, so Thierry Henry was my (idol). He's unbelievable to watch and the ultimate idol growing up."
As we say, this was a deal to win a title. Yes, both Benjamin Sesko, of RB Leipzig, and Lille's Jonathan David, have greater projection and potential, given their age. But they don't come with the Premier League guarantee that Watkins boasts. And even if Watkins had been signed, why would that prevent Arsenal, given the paucity of attacking options, from bringing in a young striker over the summer?
They blinked. It's as simple as that. When it really came to the crunch. When a title-winning decision had to be made. This Arsenal board bottled it.
Was Edu's resignation a factor in all this? Perhaps. Certainly given events over the past fortnight, Edu's departure from Arsenal does raise new questions. We're still to hear from the Brazilian definitively why he left his position to join Evangelos Marinakis' club network. We can talk about different challenges and a new slate, but after spending several years building a team to get so close to a Premier League title, the timing of giving it all away is worth questioning.
But for now, well, it's the same old Arsenal. So close, yet not so close to be serious. When a title-winning decision was there to be made, they bottled it.