Some Arsenal fans may get excited after hearing Mikel Arteta tell BT Sport that the Gunners are ‘in the market’ for ‘one or two boys’ this month.
Our former skipper was quizzed on whether the side would be adding any defensive reinforcements in the January transfer window after Shkodran Mustafi’s injury this evening.
The centre-back was stretchered off early in the second-half with an apparent ankle injury.
Arteta didn’t specifically mention that it’s defenders that we’re in for, but this would seem wise considering our current injury problems at the back.
Take a look at what the Spaniard had to say on transfers below:
"We are in the market, the club is trying to facilitate us."
Arsenal remain keen to bolster their defence, especially with Shkodran Mustafi seeming to suffer a serious injury. pic.twitter.com/lipkj0wZ1X
— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) January 27, 2020
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Arteta reiterated the club is ‘trying to facilitate us’ with the ‘resources’ that they have. Flamengo defender Pablo Mari’s name was specifically mentioned but Arteta didn’t give too much away with his calculated response.
With Mustafi possibly joining Kieran Tierney, Calum Chambers and Sead Kolasinac on the sidelines, we could certainly do with bolstering our defence before the window closes.
Even without injury troubles it’s fair to say that our defence has looked lacklustre for most of the season, it will be difficult for us to return to our former glory if we can’t manage to shore up things at the back.
Which defender would you most like to see us make a move for during the January transfer window?
Up to Raul and company now, time to do their jobs as Arteta doing his part. Is there a recall option for Mavroporas?
Thank goodness we didn’t wait until the last week to get transfers done. If there was a trophy for procrastinating we would win easily.
January transfer window is for emergency transfers generally speaking. When you have injuries or poor players in certain positions. I think we’re in one defensively
I first thought Matviyenko was too short for a CB, but he is tough and technical and plays FB and DM too…..and he is young. Doesn’t seem to get nervous. He would suit us so much. My choice is Matviyenko.
If it’s true he can also play as FB and DM, then it’s a no-brainer unless too expensive.
Also, remember that we’re already getting a tall defender in Saliba and we also have Holding and possibly Mavropanos in the future. So getting one that’s not tall could be okay as tall players are usually worse in acceleration and clumsier than shorter ones (unless your name is Mustafi).
I think it is irrelevant,watching the way they are dealing with the Pablo Mari deal is making me cringe,if MIKEL WANTS HIM,pay the 7.5 M FFS,this smacks of Kroenke again keeping the purse strings firmly tightened,if we are not prepared to meet this price then forget about Metviyenko or anyone else for that matter.
What happened to the signing of Pablo Mari?Heard he went back to Brazil. By the look of it Matviyenko seems to be a good defender and Arsenal should sign him asap. Will the Board be ready for a certain Louis Dunk? He’s got all the qualities of a great defender and we don’t have to worry for the next 3-5 years.
Apparently that was meant to happen…what wasn’t meant to happen was us changing the terms!!
I think the label we had of doing everything the right wayhas been blown out of the water by this lot Sue.