Mikel Arteta continues to be quizzed on Arsenal’s transfer plans, which have changed after Gabriel Jesus’ injury, with a move for a striker being touted amid their struggles in front of goal
Mikel Arteta made it clear that Arsenal want to add a striker in January as he said they are “actively looking” to bolster their ranks.
The Gunners have faced questions over their attacking resources throughout the year, especially after they chose not to bring in a prolific frontman back in the summer. Scoring goals, particularly from open play, has been an issue and Arteta is now without some major names.
Bukayo Saka could be out for months whilst Gabriel Jesus has seen his season ended by an ACL injury. Arsenal are the second highest scorers in the Premier League, but have continued to see major chances go begging in games, which has cost them.
Kai Havertz has been operating as a false 9, but he has copped criticism for being wasteful in front of goal, and Rio Ferdinand directly asked Arteta if he planned to act in the coming weeks.
He said on TNT Sports: “Yes for sure because we lost two big players, Bukayo who could be out for up to three months and then Gabby who will be out for a long, long, long time. We are going to try [in this window] for sure. We are actively looking. We will try. Let’s see what we can get.”
Arsenal, once again, created a number of chances during the north London derby win but kept fluffing their lines as they failed to put Tottenham away and Declan Rice wouldn’t be surprised to see new faces arrive with the team evidently short.
He said: “Where we’ve lost Gabby I’m sure the manager will look for something because we had to bring Tierney on left wing, we had to bring Zinchenko on, so we are a bit short up there so I’m not surprised if we are to do something.”
Arteta has underlined the difficulties Arsenal face in the market amid talk of mega-money moves for some of Europe’s top poachers.
He explained: “When you have to recruit a player, there are three parties and you have to agree to that. We have our limitations like any other club, so we can do what we can do. We plan our squad and we have our limits to do what we want to do, and that’s it.
“So the fact that I love our players a lot doesn’t mean we’re doing nothing about improving – I am not that stubborn. We all want the same, so we use every opportunity to improve the squad daily, and when the market comes in and we can do that too, we’ll make sure that we have the best resources and the best capacities to compete in the manner we want.”
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