It is now three years since Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, arguably the last reliable goalscorer to play for Arsenal, left the club

THIS biggest buzzkill since Coldplay were announced as last year’s Glastonbury headliners, Arsenal followed up the feelgood victory against Manchester City with a distinct fold in the transfer market and a game of chase the shadows against Newcastle United.

There isn’t much glory in winning the Carabao Cup these days – it certainly didn’t do Erik ten Hag any good at Manchester United – but the 4-0 aggregate semi-final loss underlined how flawed the Gunners have been in the transfer market.

Here was a team with a million left-backs losing to a side which saw it needed a centre-forward and scouted a fine one in Alexander Isak.

It is now three years since Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, arguably the last reliable goalscorer to play for Arsenal, left the club, although he had been frozen out long before that.

In those three years, we have had to listen to how the club is looking for the right “profile” of striker before spending the money.

But this search has gone on so long that you wonder what this mystical profile says beyond “scores goals” and whether Arsenal have a scout risking thumb rickets by repeatedly swiping left on any potential match, all the time muttering reasons not to meet… I don’t like the look of him, he’s too old, he’s too short, wrong hair, looks odd, he would make it look like we only bought him because the fans said his name, he has put down Robbie Williams as his all-time favourite musician, he looks too much like the last one, his teeth urgh, he can’t spell on his profile, he looks like he’s met other clubs, him no, him no, and him no.

The closest Arsenal got to a date was Aston Villa’s Ollie Watkins but they backed out when they realised how much it would actually cost. These days even swiping right can cost a shedload if you throw in the taxi and you get one expecting a starter and a dessert.

The search for perfection – which surely wasn’t so rigid when signing a midfielder last summer – has led to inertia, and window after window of not fixing the glaringly obvious problem and making good on the moment to really challenge for the title.

This will all add to the pressure heaped on whoever does one day sign for Arsenal. If the profile search is going to take this long, no second-raters will be accepted by the frustrated crowd at the Emirates.

They are behind the team but can only stomach so many Kai Havertz misses as he is played out of position and run into the ground.

The summer date swiping really will need to find their perfect man.