Deadline day is over, another transfer window shut and the end of the rumor mongering (at least the ones that matter) until Christmas-shopping season.
Danny. Effin'. Welbeck.
After all the rumors, the movement elsewhere, the secret negotiations that Wenger hinted at, we can firmly say:
Danny. Effin'. Welbeck.
And that's not even a lock - as it all depends on what Manchester United are doing. They're supposedly waiting on Radamel Falcao. So what we're actually facing is Danny Effin' Welbeck; or nothing.
Nothing.
Anyone who has seen this team play this year knows that something more than nothing is very much needed. We might not agree what that something is - a striker, a central defender, a holding midfielder, a superstar, a megastar, a Sami Khedira. Something. Anything. Everything.
While opinions about who we need may differ, the belief we needed to recruit wasn't in doubt - a sentiment echoed by Wenger himself. We needed more bodies in. It didn't have to be a superstar (though it would be preferable). It didn't have to be a household name (though Puma would have loved it). It just needed to address the glaring needs the squad had. And glaring needs they are.
Not sure if we did that today. Not sure if Wenger even agrees with us about what we lack.
The fact that he coached a charity game in Rome during transfer deadline day is not really an issue for me. I think it's a fine thing he did and something football can always do more of.
The bigger issue for me is that we had to do anything at all on deadline day. Sure, adding a talented future star or two is always welcome - but to come into the last 24 hours needing starting quality talent at several positions smacks of lunacy, desperation... and Manchester United.
And that we, like United, have not actually addressed the key areas we needed strengthening in (defense), makes me... frustrated, angry, depressed and weepy.
It's a long season. I'm hoping this Arsenal team comes back from the international break with renewed vigor and confidence and starts making football fun again. I'm hoping that after all is said and done by the end of the season, what we already have is all we really need.
And hopefully what we got today, is better than nothing.
Welcome to Arsenal, Danny.