Mikel Arteta brushed off the loss of Joao Felix with the Atletico Madrid star set to choose Chelsea over Arsenal.
The Atletico Madrid star has been heavily linked with a move to the Premier League this month. The two London clubs, as well as Manchester United, are in need of attacking reinforcements and all had expressed an interest in acquiring Felix on loan for the remainder of the campaign.
Atletico had been driving a hard bargain, demanding that any club take on the player's hefty wages and pay a significant loan fee - as well as making a potential commitment towards a permanent deal. Chelsea have opted to do so, leaving Arsenal to look elsewhere for new faces - most notably Mykhaylo Mudryk - but Arteta is focused on improving his current squad.
When quizzed on their transfer snub on Monday evening, he stated bluntly: "My job is to make those players as good as I can. I will try to do that and if we have any reinforcements, great."
Gabriel Jesus sustained an injury at the World Cup which has sidelined him for an extended period. It leaves Eddie Nketiah as the club's only recognised striker, but the academy graduate is in good form, bagging another two goals in the FA Cup win at Oxford.
Arteta accepts that he cannot rely solely on Nketiah though: "The problem is we have only one [striker]! And to go for that many months till Jesus is back is not easy. But we have to get the most out of the players that we have at the moment and if we can have some reinforcements - great."
Arsenal's recruitment has been crucial in their rapid rise over the past 18 months. The Gunners are sitting pretty on top of the Premier League with summer signings Jesus and Oleksandr Zinchenko having a crucial impact. Arteta has cited the need to add players who have experience in winning silverware.
He claimed: "I think so (things are going as planned). We need to go a step further, we need players that already know what winning feels like and are able to transmit that. The likes of Gabi and Oleksandr we brought that to the football club, they are still very young, they don’t have that much experience but they are hungry and have the quality to deliver us to the next level."
Shakhtar Donetsk's Mykhaylo Mudryk has been among the prime targets at the Emirates with the north Londoners still hoping to negotiate a fee with the Ukraine outfit. Reports have also suggested that the Gunners could turn to former Blue Eden Hazard, who is out of favour at Real Madrid.
