It’s easy to view Arsenal’s recent window as underwhelming in the context of the chaotic frenzy delivered by their nearest rivals. They went into the summer with obvious areas to improve and had several high-profile targets, especially in attacking areas, but ultimately didn’t force a deal simply for the sake of adding another player.

It is easy to view restraint as a sign of weakness, but Arsenal’s pragmatism is more a sign of their strength – and perhaps the desperation of their closest challengers.

This isn’t to suggest that Arsenal have in any way been frugal. Throughout the Arteta era, Arsenal have invested heavily in the squad. Early Arsenal recruitment was about fixing obvious deficiencies – Declan Rice’s transfer from West Ham being a clear example of this. But once that team is established, and clearly successful in winning the Premier League, the marginal gains from signing another £50m player to cover an already strong position become reduced.

As a squad improves, the value of each additional signing falls. There is always the need to refresh a squad, and Sir Alex Ferguson was famous for delivering consistent success through this, but Arsenal do not need to chase stars – this is a right they have earned through years of careful building. The teams around them can make gains through transfers because they are replacing genuine weaknesses, but for Arsenal, the better they have become, the more expensive it is for them to actually become better.

Emirates Stadium, London (Photo by Ank Kumar WikiCC)

The question isn’t about whether Arsenal can afford a signing, but where that player will sit within the squad. If Arsenal bring in an established star, someone else gets fewer minutes, that player becomes unhappy and you create a new problem rather than solving an old one.

Arsenal appear increasingly willing to accept that not every problem needs to be solved through the transfer market. If the available player isn’t sufficiently better, walking away becomes the rational position – crucial for a club chasing top honours on multiple fronts once more.

But there is a counterargument to this, and Arsenal fans frustrated by the inability to capitalise on their current advantage might subscribe to it. If you’re a couple of signings away from potentially winning the Champions League, why wouldn’t you spend? The pressure actually increases to spend as you get closer to the top, as does the risk of spending badly. Arsenal can’t simply assume that throwing another £100m at the squad will solve the problem.

Transfer windows encourage clubs to do something, and supporters often want new players. But the idea that activity = progress is a fallacy, and Arsenal’s development under Arteta allows them a level of maturity to be more selective. We also shouldn’t act as if the Gunners were completely inactive this summer.

Arsenal’s summer transfer window was still significant without being transformative. They spent close to £200m on Bruno Guimarães, Ezri Konsa, Piero Hincapié and Christos Tzolis, while recouping more than £120m through sales, including Gabriel Martinelli’s move to Al-Hilal. The squad has been strengthened, particularly in midfield and defence, but Arsenal ultimately chose not to make the major attacking addition they had pursued for much of the summer. Whilst Arsenal have relied on an attacking group rather than a pure focal point through recent campaigns, there still exists a nagging sense of being short in this particular department.

If Arsenal fail to win the league again, the question will inevitably become whether the club should have been more aggressive. There’s a fine line between not overpaying for the wrong player and failing to make the investment required to win. Arsenal’s success last season, though, is evidence that their strategy is working, and that the desperation of other clubs shouldn’t cast doubt on that premise.

Arsenal have to think about so much more than simply rolling the dice in the market. They are a club that has to focus on maintaining their standards and protecting existing squad harmony – because they are in a position where things are working. The challenge is no longer about building a team capable of competing. It is about making sure the pursuit of improvement doesn’t undermine what has already been built.

Arsenal haven’t suddenly stopped spending. They’ve instead reached a point where spending for the sake of it actually risks making the squad worse. Their next big decision will likely not be the player they sign, but the one they decide isn’t worth acquiring.