Arsenal actively looking for January signings | OneFootball

Mikel Arteta has confirmed that Arsenal will be actively looking for reinforcements in January, though he made no guarantees that any signings will be made.

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Speaking to the media ahead of Arsenal’s game against Aston Villa, Mikel Arteta addressed the club’s situation with regards to the imminent opening of the transfer window.

The Villa game is Arsenal’s final match before they’re able to dip into the market, but there are no strong links to any particular player at this stage.

All the same, Arteta has confirmed that Arsenal will be actively looking for reinforcements, and then it’s just a case of whether a deal is there to be done.

“The window is there,” Arteta began. “We’re Arsenal and we have to be looking at it and saying ‘OK, what do we need?’ We have to be actively looking, and then can we do it or not? That’s a different story, but our job is to always be very prepared because something can happen.”

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Arsenal have had a lot of injury problems throughout the season so far, particularly with defenders in recent weeks. Arteta admitted that could be a factor when it comes to potential signing targets.

“We’re going to be really aware of the situation and the timescale of certain players [returning from injury],” Arteta said. “If you go from the front line to the back line, that’s the depth that you need.

“The thing is, we’ve had more injuries than expected, some of them not avoidable, I would say, but we want to be better, and we know how important the part of having the right availability with players is going to play in the season.”

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The other big question is whether or not any players might leave Arsenal in January. That could obviously have a knock-on effect on incomings, and the Gunners will want to figure out early on whether they’re expecting anyone to push for a transfer.

Arteta suggested he’s leaving all of that up to Arsenal sporting director Andrea Berta.

“Again, we assess every situation,” Arteta added. “I leave that much more to Andrea [Berta] to understand what’s happening in the market and then the individual players obviously. We have to assess where we are with each of them and get the best situation.”