Mikel Arteta's ruthless streak is helping Arsenal replace their weak link

Arsenal have missed out on Lisandro Martinez, but they have not wasted any time in enacting Plan B: to sign Oleksandr Zinchenko.

The Gunners went head-to-head with Manchester United for Martinez. They submitted two bids, up to the value of £38million, before ducking out when United upped the ante. United are now poised to sign the Ajax defender for £46m.

That news will no doubt come as a blow to Arsenal, who had identified Martinez as a player of some potential - a left-footed, versatile and cultured defender with a high ceiling. But if that is the case, they did not let on; instead sporting director Edu and manager Mikel Arteta simply flicked the switch to engage another plan.

Arsenal are now in negotiations with Manchester City over Zinchenko, who has long been linked with a move to north London. City are understood to be happy to do business as long as their asking price is met and, like with Gabriel Jesus, Zinchenko is keen to be reunited with Arteta.

Like Martinez, who can play in central defence, left-back and central midfield, Zinchenko's great strength is his versatility. The Ukraine international has primarily been used at left-back by Pep Guardiola, but plays centre-midfield for his country and can operate further forward on the left flank. In short, he looks a great addition for Arsenal.

But it is the context at the club which makes the pursuit so intriguing. Arsenal already have two left-backs in their squad - Kieran Tierney and Nuno Tavares - as well as others who can fill in if needed: Cedric Soares and Takehiro Tomiyasu. In theory, then, they are well-stocked. That is on paper. In practice things are a bit different.

Tierney is the undisputed number one in the position when he's fit. The problem is, that hasn't always been the case since he arrived from Celtic in a £25m transfer three years ago. According to Transfermarkt, Tierney has missed 48 matches because of five separate injuries over the past three seasons. Fans were concerned that the problem would continue into the 2022/23 season when Tierney lasted just 30 minutes of the 5-3 friendly win over Nurnberg last week - his first match since knee surgery.

Arteta tried to dispel such worries. "He's really good," he said post-match. "He's been training really good. Obviously he's been out for over three months now so we wanted to give him a proper warm-up, play the first half an hour and then get him out. So he was in good condition and there's no issues there."

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Injured or not, and despite Arteta's protestations, Tierney's fitness is a problem and the signing of Tavares, for £6.8m from Benfica last summer, has not alleviated it. That is where Zinchenko comes in - and where Arteta's ruthless nature does too. According to Fabrizio Romano, Arteta is considering Anderlecht's Sergio Gomez as well as Zinchenko - and the new arrival could prompt the exit of Tavares, with Marseille among those interested in signing him.

Tavares often looked all at sea last season. He is not the reliable deputy Arsenal hoped he would be when they signed him last summer. That is fine, but at least the Gunners are not sticking with him in the face of mounting evidence.

Arteta has often spoken bullishly about the need for reinforcements in the transfer window and recent history suggests the owners are ready to provide him with the funds to do so. That hasn't always been the case. Replacing a weak link with a proven Premier League performer like Zinchenko proves Arsenal have learnt from their past mistakes and that they mean business for the upcoming campaign.