Mikel Arteta has opened the door for Arsenal to make signings in the upcoming January transfer window, but admits the decision hinges on the severity of the club's ongoing injury woes.
Injury List Forces Defensive Reinvention
The Premier League leaders have welcomed back several key figures this month, including Viktor Gyokeres, Noni Madueke, Gabriel Jesus, William Saliba, and Gabriel Magalhaes. However, a fresh wave of absences has hit the squad hard. Kai Havertz, Cristhian Mosquera, Ben White, Jurrien Timber, Riccardo Calafiori, and Max Dowman are all currently sidelined.
This defensive shortage has forced Arteta to get creative in recent weeks, with midfielders like Christian Norgaard and Declan Rice having to deputise in the backline. When directly questioned about the potential for recruiting a new defender in January, the Arsenal boss gave a revealing answer.
"We Have to Be Actively Looking"
"Depending on the availability of certain players, so the window is there," Arteta stated. "I mean, we're Arsenal and we have to be looking at it like, '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 be always very prepared because something can happen."
He elaborated on the assessment process, highlighting the need for squad depth comparable to their rivals. "We’re going to be really aware of the situation and the timescale of certain players. Going from the front line then to the back line, that's the depth that you need, and when you look across the other clubs as well, they have 24, 25 squad players," Arteta explained.
"The thing is that although we have 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 of players it is going to play in this season."
Villa Revenge Mission on the Horizon
The immediate focus for Arteta's side is a crucial Premier League clash on Tuesday night. League leaders Arsenal host third-placed Aston Villa, looking to avenge a painful last-gasp 2-1 defeat at Villa Park earlier in December.
Unai Emery's team trail Arsenal by just two points, and a second victory in a month would deal a significant psychological blow. Arteta is determined to use the memory of that loss as fuel for the Emirates encounter.
"What we want is that every opponent that comes here suffers, and we are as dominant as we were today (against Brighton). Against Villa we have a really tough match," he said. "We'll watch it back, I have a few ideas and things that we have to do better. It was quite cruel as well the way we lost it, but yeah, we learned from it. If you use that motivation and that hunger in the right manner (by watching it back), for sure."
