Mikel Arteta has admitted Arsenal are “actively looking” for January reinforcements to strengthen their injury-hit defense. The Premier League leaders have been hit by injuries during the festival period, with Arteta admitting: “We are Arsenal and we have to look at that. ‘Okay, what do we need?'”
Since taking over at the Emirates, the Spanish manager has spent more than £1bn, including nearly £250m last summer alone, in his quest for Arsenal’s first Premier League title since 2004. However, with Julian Timber and Riccardo Calafioli joining Ben White on the treatment table, Declan Rice was forced into the unfamiliar role of right-back against Brighton.
“We are aware of the situation and timescale for certain players,” Arteta said ahead of tonight’s (Tuesday) clash with title favorites Aston Villa.
“If you look at other clubs, they have 24, 25 players in their teams and there is nothing special about our team. We have had more injuries than expected and some of them are unavoidable, but we want to be better and we know how important it is to have the players in place who will be playing this season.”
“As I said, depending on the availability of certain players, the opportunity is there. So we are Arsenal and we have to look at it, OK, ‘What do we need?’ And we have to be actively looking and then whether we can do that or not is another story, but our job is always to be ready, anything can happen so hopefully it’s a very positive one.”
Regarding a possible departure, he added: “We will evaluate every situation. We will leave it to Andrea (Berta) to understand what is happening in the market, and then we will leave it to the individual players. Of course we have to evaluate each player and where we are and find the best situation.”
Arsenal secured the signings of Kepa Arrizabalaga, Martin Zvimendi, Christian Norgaard, Noni Madueke, Victor Gokeres and Ebelesi Eze in the summer transfer window.
The Gunners have acquired defender Cristian Mosquera from Valencia and defender Piero Hincapie from Bayer Leverkusen on provisional deals, but may consider adding further loan deals in January as they pursue glory across four competitions.
Gabriel Magalhães came on as a substitute against Brighton, making his first appearance since picking up an adductor problem during last month’s match against Brazil, while Arteta revealed Kai Havertz is “very close” to returning from a knee problem.
