Mikel Arteta has admitted his squad has “certain limitations” but offered no guarantee that Arsenal will bring in reinforcements despite a lack of attacking options at his disposal.
Arteta is expected to rotate his lineup against Manchester United in the FA Cup third round on Sunday as they head into a busy week that features Premier League fixtures against Tottenham and Aston Villa. But with Bukayo Saka and Ethan Nwaneri sidelined, he faces a decision on whether to recall Raheem Sterling after injury or stick with the some of the players who started Tuesday’s defeat by Newcastle in the Carabao Cup.
During 11 transfer windows as Arsenal’s manager, Arteta has signed six attacking players and 17 defenders. Asked whether this had created an imbalance, he said: “We are very aware because we have certain squad limitations and a lot of gaps to cover to become the team that we want and then the availability of those players to afford them if you want to.
“Sometimes that means it’s not possible. Bringing in bodies doesn’t help at all. It is just someone who can immediately impact on performance and bring something we don’t have. In this market it is very difficult to achieve.
“In the front positions, comparing to what other clubs have done and the expenditure that we have, we are very far from it over the years for different reasons. First of all because we already had very good players and because we had many necessities in the squad to achieve in that period.”
Arteta was critical of the ball used against Newcastle in which his team had 23 shots on goal, complaining that it “flies differently”. A special gold ball produced by Mitre is set to be used in Sunday’s tie against the Cup holders, United, and Arteta said his team would have to adapt again.
“Every ball is different,” he said. “Champions League ball is different, grip different, fly different, feel different. That’s it. It’s not an excuse it’s a reality; every pitch is different. Weather conditions change in football – that’s the beauty of it. Never an excuse.”
