We're well over halfway into the transfer window but Arsenal are still calm about how things are progressing. The Gunners missed out on Mykhailo Mudryk after deciding not to pay the £88million price Shakhtar Donetsk were demanding for the sake of the long-term future of the club. While there is of course disappointment at being gazumped by Chelsea, Mikel Arteta has said that he, Edu and club officials are still united over what they want to do this month.
"We have excellent players and we want to improve our squad in this transfer window – when I say we I mean, myself, the coaching staff, the staff players, the board and the ownership – we all want to do that," Arteta told football.london after Sunday's 2-0 win over Spurs. "But we will do the deals we can do and the ones we feel are right for the club."
Arteta has still demanded more firepower in his squad though, and it's thought that Arsenal are open to the possibility if the right player becomes available. Meanwhile, there could still be some exits out of north London in the coming days. Here football.london takes a look at how things stand right now.
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Moussa Diaby
Moussa Diaby seems to have been linked with Arsenal for years now, and his name has come up once again ever since the Mykhailo Mudryk deal fell through. Reports have suggested the Gunners have made contact with Bayer Leverkusen over a last-minute move for the French winger this January. The Mudryk deal though looks set to bite Arsenal again.
When it came to Mudryk, Shakhtar Donetsk justified their demand of an £88million fee by saying it was the going rate for a player of his calibre following deals for Jack Grealish and Antony. Arsenal did not share this view, feeling that United had overpaid for Antony and that Grealish had cost so much due to a release clause in his contract at Aston Villa. However, the fact that Chelsea have shown there is a willingness from buying clubs out there to match outlandish asking prices means that selling clubs now feel emboldened to demand higher fees just as Shakhtar did.
This makes a deal for Diaby difficult, with Leverkusen not thought to be keen on selling at this point in the season unless it is for a high price. Newcastle have also shown interest in the 23-year-old so that could complicate matters even further.
Declan Rice
Declan Rice has been heavily linked to Arsenal over the previous few days. Reports have suggested that the Gunners could look to bring in the midfielder for around £80million.
Rice will have 12 months remaining on his West Ham contract in the summer. Despite an injury to Mohamed Elneny it seems as though any deal for the England international will have to wait until then.
It remains to be seen what this means for the rest of Arsenal's plans in midfield. Youngsters like Charlie Patino and Ethan Nwaneri are both very highly rated. As things stand a move for a midfielder this window is not thought to be close in January with football.london having reported that a move for Leicester's Youri Tielemans is highly unlikely this month.
Cedric
football.london understands that Arsenal are in talks with Fulham over a potential loan deal for Cedric to the end of the season. The Portuguese international has missed the last two matches with a muscle problem, but there is hope he could be back soon.
Mikel Arteta has already stated that the Gunners will be cautious over who they allow to leave this window after struggling for squad depth at the back end of last season and the club could already be looking at a long-term replacement. Talks have taken place over a potential move for Real Valladolid's Ivan Fresneda.
The 18-year-old right back can play the inverted role that Arteta likes so would appear to fit the bill, but it's not clear if a move for him would happen in the summer or this window. The Gunners do currently have some talented right backs on their books already at the moment, with Reuell Walters having caught Arteta's eye in pre-season and Brooke Norton-Cuffy being monitored closely following the decision to send him on loan to Coventry for the remainder of the season after a change of manager at Rotherham where he spent the first part of the campaign.
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