Mixed messages from Arteta who claims Arsenal will be ‘very alert’ in January

Mikel Arteta has played down Arsenal’s January transfer window plans, before claiming that we will be ‘very alert in the market’.

We are believed to have attended a pre-transfer window event recently as we prepare for the upcoming winter window, exciting fans who may have believed that we could have seen further strengthening after a thoroughly impressive summer.

We were the biggest spenders in the division, but more importantly each of those arrivals has had a positive impact on the team. All of Nuno Tavares, Ben White, Aaron Ramsdale, Takehiro Tomiyasu and Albert Sambi Lokonga have all thoroughly impressed, helping us climb up to fourth in the Premier League table.

There were reports that the success of the window could mean that the owners would sanction further spending, but Arteta has played down any big moves.

Arteta on January:

"We don’t expect big things happening, but we are going to be very alert in the market, see if we can improve the team. We have to be prepared because things can happen, injuries arise in this period and you have to be prepared and planned."

— Charles Watts (@charles_watts) December 1, 2021

While the manager claims that we must be ready to deal with any injuries that come about, he doesn’t mention any worries about his squad despite knowing that Mo Elneny, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Thomas Partey will be leaving us for the AFCON tournament early into 2022. I believe he is also choosing to pretend that we are not planning for any exits in January, which seems unlikely.

Is Arteta just keeping his cards close to his chest, or would a quiet window make sense given our positive momentum at present?

Patrick