Arsenal chief executive Vinai Venkatesham believes the club's transfer window shows they are moving in the right direction.
The Gunners were Europe's biggest spenders before Tuesday's deadline, paying £156.8m on new additions.
Ben White (£50m), Martin Odegaard (£34m), Aaron Ramsdale (£30m), Takehiro Tomiyasu (£19.8m), Albert Sambi Lokonga (£15m) and Nuno Tavares (£8m) all moved to the Emirates Stadium this summer.
Despite their considerable outlay, Arsenal have made a torrid start to the new campaign.
Mikel Arteta's side sit bottom of the Premier League table after losing all three of their fixtures to date.
And although Venkatesham acknowledges there is still plenty of work to be done, he believes Arsenal's transfer strategy is sensible.
The Gunners focused on signing younger players with potential to improve in the recent window.
"Of course, I write this update against the backdrop of a hugely disappointing start to the season. I know how tough this is for all of you, both as supporters and employees, with criticism coming from all angles," he said in a note to club staff.
"At times like this it is critical we stick together and stay positive. We have a very important run of games coming up after the international break and I’m confident we can and will come out fighting.
"Our approach for this window was framed by fully recognising that we are not where we want to be on the pitch - finishing eighth last season, with no European football for the first time in many years.
"This is well below the standards each of us all have, and of course that our fans rightly demand of us, which is to be competing for the biggest trophies in the game.
"While we would love to jump from where we are to where we want to be in an instant, we need to be realistic that the gap is too large to do that. As such, our activity this window has been focused on youth.
"Our strategy is to fill our squad with some of Europe’s most exciting young talent, with players from both our academy and further afield, that can grow and develop together under Mikel to take us where we want to get to.
"While this will not be overnight, we can make positive progress, and it gives us the best route to future success in a sustainable way."
Arsenal's recruitment has been disappointing over the last few years, but this summer did show a change of approach.
Rather than handing big contracts to ageing players like Willian and David Luiz, Arsenal have pursued young talent.
That should serve them well in the long term, but their most pressing need at the moment is Premier League points.
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