Busy: Mikel Arteta is chasing new signings in January
(Picture: Arsenal FC via Getty Images)Mikel Arteta says Arsenal want to do their January transfer business early, but they will not sign players for the sake of it.
Arsenal are currently five points clear of Manchester City at the top of the Premier League and are ready to spend next month to boost their title challenge.
The Gunners’ priority is a new wide forward and they are in talks with Shakhtar Donetsk over a deal for Mykhaylo Mudryk. Arsenal also have a long-term desire to sign a new midfielder and left-sided centre-back.
Arteta wants Arsenal to do their business early, particularly as they are facing Newcastle, Manchester United and Tottenham in January.
“We knew the importance of getting players early in the summer and that is the same we want to do in January,” said Arteta.
“This is idealistic. Sometimes it is not realistic. But obviously, if you ask my opinion, as quick as possible we want the players in to get settled.
“In this league with the competition, where the bar is and what the standards have been for the last four or five years — something the Premier League has not experienced in the past — we know that every point is going to be massively important.”
Arsenal may want to do their business early, but Arteta has stressed how they will not sign players for the sake of it.
“Can we afford not getting the player that we want? That is my question. We can afford to get a striker for sure if we want one, I don’t know if he plays in League Two, in League Five, in Spain, in Portugal, in Africa,” said Arteta.
“We can get a striker I can guarantee you that. But what we can not afford to do is get a player here that is not for us. This is what we can not afford, that is for sure.
“We don’t need a body, we need players that make the team better. I think personalities that have the mentality that we want to win.
“And we have to focus on that. We have to be very strict with what we have done and the policy we have had to make the team successful.
“We are very aligned with the players we are looking for. Whether they are possible or affordable, the timing of it, depends on so many things that are out of my control. The theory says that it is a very tricky window.”
