The truth about Arsenal's transfer window: The four forwards they targeted, what really happened with Ollie Watkins and the two big-money stars most likely to sign this summer

Now the dust has settled from Arsenal’s unsuccessful efforts to sign a new forward in January, Mail Sport can provide some rationale. Some supporters won’t want to hear it. Wednesday night’s Carabao Cup semi-final exit to Newcastle will serve only to strengthen their view the market was an unmitigated disaster. They’ll explain that what follows here is propaganda. That isn’t the case here, but accuse away.

This isn’t meant as a defence of Arsenal’s window - but rather an explanation as to why it transpired as it did. The first point that should be made clear is that Arsenal’s intention was always to be active. Ultimately that activity was futile. How damaging that failure is in terms of this season, we won’t know until May - or until Kai Havertz suffers an injury. Many supporters will feel that the Newcastle defeat highlighted what a poor window they had.

They had always intended to be active in the window, though that activity was ultimately futile. A hamstring injury suffered by Gabriel Martinelli proved a blow that leaves them thin up front. A hamstring strain suffered by Gabriel Martinelli at St James’ Park on Wednesday another blow that leaves the club’s forward options worryingly exposed. But Arsenal tried. There was an internal exploration, for instance, regarding Red Bull Leipzig striker Benjamin Sesko.

A long-term target of the club, if an opportunity to sign a player the club initially moved to land last summer presented itself in January then Arsenal were prepared to grasp it. But crucially, Red Bull were not prepared to sell Sesko in January, a stance communicated to Arsenal. You could argue they should have taken a heavy handed approach. But doing so would have future consequences towards a potential move for a player who could easily emerge as Arsenal’s most realistic striker target of the summer.

The serious knee injury suffered by Gabriel Jesus towards the start of January sharpened Arsenal’s focus. In an ideal world, Arsenal wanted Jesus to play out the season. There was logic to that viewpoint; following a difficult start Jesus had scored six goals in seven matches before his season prematurely ended against Manchester United on January 12. He was hitting form before disaster struck, but it was only when his ACL injury was confirmed did Arsenal narrow their January business to the recruitment of a striker.

Arsenal were ready to move for Benjamin Sesko if the chance arose but RB Leipzig did not want to sell. Gabriel Jesus hit a real purple patch before being sidelined for the season with a knee injury. Potential moves for Bayern Munich’s Mathys Tel and AC Milan striker Alvaro Morata were discussed internally, although the club fell short of making offers amid a feeling that neither would provide the level of impact Mikel Arteta’s team required.

Time will tell whether that was the right call, particularly regarding Tel given he has joined arch-rivals Tottenham. Arsenal found that the very best players simply weren't available in January, where prices are traditionally inflated and clubs aren’t open to letting their key assets leave. Those prohibitive conditions aren’t exclusive to Arsenal. Ask Manchester United. Ask Chelsea. Arsenal could have signed someone for the sake of it; to add depth rather than quality.

But where is the long-term strategy in that?. The emergence of Myles Lewis-Skelly and Ethan Nwaneri is a case in point, here. Both academy players were predicted to play a greater first-team role this season. Myles Lewis-Skelly (left) and Ethan Nwaneri (right) have emerged as breakout stars this term. Arsenal's recruitment team pride themselves on talent identification - a system that has seen some request in recent seasons.

Their rapid rise has proved the club’s evaluation of both teenagers accurate. Talent identification is a concept Arsenal’s recruitment team pride themselves on; they have had more hits than misses in recent seasons. If certain available players weren’t deemed at a high enough level to improve a forward line that scored 91 goals last season, then - perhaps - frustrated Gooners should have a little more faith.

As Mail Sport exclusively revealed last week, Arsenal did make an offer for Ollie Watkins, another long-standing target. The external view of that particular bid, that was rejected by Villa, was that it smacked of panic heading into the final few days of the window. However, it is our understanding that Arsenal were offered encouragement during the closing stages of the window that Villa were open to selling Watkins or Jhon Duran ahead of the deadline as the Midlands club looked to alleviate some of the pressures created by the Premier League’s profit and sustainability regulations.