Sunday's Premier League clash at Old Trafford between Manchester United and Arsenal is a fixture that in years gone by would have had significant ramifications in the title race.
United and Arsenal spent the best part of the noughties fighting it out for honours in the prime years of Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger. It was box office stuff.
That pair of legends have since left their posts and both clubs have stuttered as a result, with title glory now beyond the realm of expectation as the sides instead focus on achieving a top-four finish and Champions League football.
In the 2022-23 season, neither will be in Europe's elite competition, with Arsenal in the midst of a five-year Champions League drought and United finishing sixth last term – the fifth time in nine seasons outside of the top four.
Mikel Arteta and Erik ten Hag are the men tasked with improving upon that record at their respective clubs, the Gunners having stood firm despite struggles at the start of last season and United turning to the former Ajax boss ahead of the new campaign.
In modern football, unlike in the eras of Ferguson and Wenger, it is not just the management who have a direct influence in proceedings, with executives in the club's hierarchy having a major say on transfer market activity.
Both clubs fell into disarray in the market after the departures of their long-serving managers, Arsenal making expensive mistakes in Nicolas Pepe and United spending close to a billion on an array of recruits in the post-Ferguson era.
Under the watch of Edu, Arsenal now appear to be moving forward with a clear plan alongside Arteta, demonstrating a ruthlessness in the past few years to oust numerous high-earning players from the squad – creating room for recruits like Gabriel Jesus.
In the three seasons since Edu has been in charge of transfer activity, following the departure of Raul Sanllehi, the Gunners have allowed the likes of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Mesut Ozil, Willian and Shkodran Mustafi to leave the club by cancelling their contracts.
In the wake of those bold decisions, Arsenal have not readily sought like-for-like replacements, instead freeing up room in what was viewed as a bloated wage bill.
Alongside this, Arsenal have made a conservative effort in the transfer market to create a squad that can be a success for years to come, particularly in the last two seasons.
Since the 2021-22 campaign, Arsenal's only recruit above the age of 25 is the capture of goalkeeper Matt Turner in the current window – a player who stands as the understudy to first-choice stopper Aaron Ramsdale and a replacement for Bernd Leno, who joined Fulham.
Edu appears to have learnt lessons from 2020-21, his first season at the helm, where five of six recruits were above the age of 25 – Thomas Partey, Pablo Mari, Alex Runarsson, Willian and Cedric Soares.
At United, the overall look of the recruitment drive paints a vastly different picture. In the past two seasons, five of nine recruits fall into the 25 or over category; Raphael Varane, Cristiano Ronaldo, Tom Heaton, Casemiro and Christian Eriksen. In the season prior, Alex Telles and Edinson Cavani fall into that category.
It is also worth identifying the sums paid for players of this ilk, with Arsenal's deal for Turner reportedly worth up to £7.5m if add-ons are met, a figure that is dwarfed by United's reported spending.
Since the 2021-22 transfer window, United have reportedly splashed over £100m on the deals to land Varane, Ronaldo and Casemiro – with add-ons in those deals potentially seeing a further rise in costs.
While Ronaldo was able to repay his fee with 18 Premier League goals last term, he has pushed for an exit in the current window due to a desire to play in the Champions League, but, in the case of Varane, United splashed further money on Lisandro Martinez despite already having Varane and Harry Maguire in the squad.
United's questionable approach in the market has also come under scrutiny amid deals that were reportedly eyed but not completed, including apparent intentions to sign Marko Arnautovic and Adrien Rabiot in the current window, then setting sights on Ajax's Antony and concluding a whopping £86m deal.
Time will tell whether Arsenal's approach is successful but the club appear to have all their major pieces moving in the right direction, while at United it is a difficult task to put your finger on exactly what the plan is.
Sunday's result may provide bragging rights for the winning team but in the long-term battle, there appears to only be one winner.
Sancho given fresh start with Chelsea loan move
Jadon Sancho has secured a move away from Manchester United, having joined Chelsea on Deadline Day on a season-long loan.
The deal includes an obligation to buy for between £20-£25 million at the end of the loan, according to widespread reports, meaning that the 24-year-old will not be returning to Old Trafford next summer.
Work to complete the transfer came late on Deadline Day, with a deal sheet being submitted to ensure the signing could go through after the 11pm deadline.
Chelsea were able to get the deal over the line, confirming the move was complete on Saturday evening.
"I’m really excited to be here," Sancho said. "London is where I grew up and I’m happy to be back.
"The manager spoke to me about the project and, for a young player, it's exciting. Hopefully I can bring goals and assists to the Bridge."
It brings an end to a three-year spell at Old Trafford for Sancho. The winger originally joined United on a five-year contract in 2021 but, following a public falling out with manager Erik ten Hag, found his first-team opportunities limited.
Sancho made 83 appearances in all competitions for United, but his last start for the club came against Manchester City in the 2023 FA Cup final. He made three substitute appearances in August 2023 before moving back to Dortmund on loan in January, where he scored three goals in 21 appearances.
His final outing in a United shirt came off the bench in their Community Shield defeat to Manchester City, but he was not included in the squad for the first two league games.
Sancho joins a club with plenty of competition for attacking places, with Cole Palmer, Christopher Nkunku, Nicolas Jackson, Pedro Neto, Joao Felix and Noni Madueke among their roster.
Chelsea did also manage to move some players on during Deadline Day. Raheem Sterling secured a loan move to Arsenal on Deadline Day, while Trevoh Chalobah joined Crystal Palace, Armando Broja moved to Everton and Djordje Petrovic was loaned by Strasbourg.
Frustrated Arteta bemoans referee's inconsistency after Rice red card
Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta was frustrated with the officials after watching his side draw 1-1 with Brighton and Hove Albion at the Emirates Stadium, having played the majority of the second half with 10 men.
Declan Rice was sent off for a second bookable offence after 49 minutes for delaying the restart from a Brighton free-kick, leaving Arteta to question the consistency of the referee's decision-making.
“If that happens throughout the game in a consistent way that’s fine,” he told TNT Sports in a post-match interview.
“But it didn’t happen. In the first half, there were a number of occasions where they kicked the ball away and nothing happened.
“It’s inconsistency and it's in an area where it’s not critical. You made that call and you have to give a red card.
“If we have to play with 10, they have to play with 10 as well.”
Despite his annoyance at the red card, Arteta was able to find positives in the performance of his team.
Arsenal went 1-0 up after 38 minutes through Kai Havertz’s second goal of the season, before conceding a second-half equaliser following Rice’s dismissal.
“We started the game really good, created three or four big chances,” he said.
“We started the second half really good, had some good moments and momentum and obviously that decision changes the game completely.
“It was unbelievable the way the team reacted [after the goal] with 10 men, playing 48 minutes, we should have won the game.”
Brighton manager Fabian Hurzeler, meanwhile, had a different opinion to his counterpart.
“It was a red card, he shoots the ball away. He was wasting time,” said Hurzeler in his post-match press conference.
“If Arsenal think otherwise, there are now two opinions.”
When asked about a similar incident in which Joao Pedro seemed to avoid punishment for kicking the ball away, Hurzeler suggested the two events were not like-for-like.
“You can’t compare the two situations,” he said.
“In football, two situations are never the same. I was booked because I was complaining about the tackle against Joel [Veltman] in the first half. We can accept it’s in the Premier League, it’s a yellow card, but I think no one can complain if the referee gives the red card.”
Arsenal 1-1 Brighton: Joao Pedro pegs back Arteta's side after Rice red card
Brighton moved top of the Premier League after holding 10-man Arsenal to a 1-1 draw at the Emirates Stadium.
Kai Havertz's first-half strike was cancelled out by Joao Pedro, while the hosts played most of the second half with a player less following Declan Rice's red card for two bookable offences.
The Gunners broke the deadlock seven minutes before half-time when Bukayo Saka outmuscled Lewis Dunk before teeing up Havertz, who lifted the ball into the empty net over the outrushing Bart Verbruggen.
However, Mikel Arteta's side were reduced to 10 men within four minutes of the restart, with Rice shown a second yellow card after he was deemed to have prevented the taking of a Brighton free-kick.
The Seagulls were level just nine minutes later when David Raya parried Yankuba Minteh's initial strike straight to Joao Pedro, who made no mistake from close range.
Fabian Hurzeler's side looked more likely to grab the game's decisive third goal as they dominated possession later on but, in the end, were forced to settle for a share of the spoils.
Data Debrief: Saka matches Henry as Gunners' winning streak stalls
Arteta's side will count themselves fortunate to have taken a point from this contest, given they enjoyed just under 25% of the second-half possession at the Emirates - albeit a man light after the first red card of Rice's 245-match Premier League career.
The Gunners started well as they sought a ninth straight league win, and were deserving of their lead through Havertz's fourth goal in as many appearances against Brighton - and his seventh in nine home games.
His effort came after clever play from Saka, whose assist was his third in as many matches this term. The only Arsenal player to previously provide an assist in each of their opening three games of a Premier League season was a certain Thierry Henry in 2004-05.
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