The Sky Blues have only made one signing this off-season, losing a handful of first-team players, headlined by Vukovic who left for Belgian club Genk last month.

Arnold’s side have been linked with Bournemouth’s Socceroo Adam Federici and Swansea City’s Mark Birighitti has they bid to replace Vukovic, while they could sign a visa player too, given they have two spots available.

PIC SPECIAL: Arsenal's first day in Sydney

“It’s early days in recruitment,” Arnold said.

“We’ve got a long off-season. We’ve still got a few months to go.

“The plan is to bring in better than we what we had.”

Sydney released fringe midfielder Milos Dimitrijevic late last month, while Filip Holosko and Bernie Ibini are the only regular first-team players to depart.

Midfielder Paulo Retre is Sydney’s only addition, arriving from Melbourne City.

“We’ve got three or four spots to fill,” Arnold said.

“We’ll be patient. We'll take our time and make sure we get the right people in to make the team successful and make sure we get the right quality.

“We’re not in a hurry.”

Arnold added that there was genuine excitement about Thursday's friendly against Arsenal at ANZ Stadium.

“It’s a wonderful opportunity for our boys to test ourselves against the best,” Arnold said.

“It’s a football club a lot of Australian coaches look up to and admire. We try to replicate in a lot of ways the way they play the game.”

PIC SPECIAL: Arsenal's first day in Sydney