Arsenal may well miss out on the Premier League title this season but the future certainly looks bright for the north London club.

Few could have anticipated the title fight that Arsenal launched under Mikel Arteta, who will continue to hold out hope that Manchester City, the league's current leaders, could falter before the season's finish.

Arsenal has already qualified for the Champions League and anticipates a busy summer transfer market as Arteta and sporting director Edu work to ensure this season's triumph is not just a passing fad.

With the additions of Martin Odegaard, Oleksandr Zinchenko, Gabriel Jesus, and other players, Arsenal's recruitment has substantially improved in recent seasons under Edu, giving Arteta a dynamic, young team that is capable of contending for major honors.
While the jury is still out on the likes of Albert Sambi Lokonga and Fabio Vieira, there is only one big-money Edu signing that can be deemed to be a major failure – Nicholas Pepe's £72m move from Lille in 2019.

Two years earlier, before Edu had rejoined the club as technical director, Arsenal tried to complete an even bigger transfer – and fans will be relieved that it didn't work out.

Thomas Lemar, who had just scored 12 goals in 39 games to help Monaco win the Ligue 1 championship for the first time in 17 years, was the subject of a club-record £92 million bid from Arsenal in 2017.

Lemar was a French midfielder who Liverpool and former Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger both wanted to sign.

Although they had already permitted Tiemoue Bakayoko, Bernardo Silva, and Benjamin Mendy to make lucrative transfers away from the club, Monaco refused to sell him that summer.

But he has failed to live up to expectations since moving to La Liga.

After making 22 league appearances in his debut season at Atletico, Lemar hasn't started more than half in a single campaign since.

This season, he has managed only one goal and three assists in 30 appearances in all competitions and is now expected to leave as a free agent on July 1, when his contract at the Wanda Metropolitano expires.

Still only just 27, Lemar is set to have plenty of suitors this summer. But six years after their initial interest, Arsenal are unlikely to be one of them.