Mikel Arteta Disappointed With The Lack Of Players Recruited By Arsenal On The January Exchange

JAKARTA - Mikel Arteta has admitted his disappointment over Arsenal's failure to recruit attackers in the January 2025 transfer market.

The Spaniard publicly stated that they needed attacking reinforcements following injuries suffered by Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Jesus, but the club was unable to bring in anyone.

Therefore, he needs his troops to be very disciplined in remaining on the right track in the hunt for trophies.

The Gunners are actually quite active in the winter market. They were recorded to have made an offer of around 40 million pounds forten Watkins, but were eventually rejected by Aston Villa last week.

"We have clear intentions and that's clear. There are opportunities open to exploring the possibility of improving our squad with players who can influence it. We haven't achieved that yet."

"So, we are disappointed in that, but we are also very aware that we only want to bring in certain players."

"We also have to be very disciplined with that and I think we did. I don't want to go into too much detail."

"We can't do it for certain reasons and we have to accept it, that's all. It's a combination of various things," said Arteta.

When asked to explain how the discipline could affect Arsenal's summer plans, Arteta mentioned several aspects.

"What I mean about it is in every way, in the type of profile, in the kind of player we believe can really make us much better."

"Financially. In many ways, there are many things we have to maintain on track that have brought us so far and from there, trying to improve," said Arteta.

Arteta stated last week that Arsenal's decision not to recruit attackers last summer left them short in terms of numbers.

The context was then targeted by journalists who were questioning the question of how much gambling was when they did not add to their squad in the middle of the season.

"It's not a gamble, it's a reality. We also have to face the fact that we have it. We have players that we have now."

"Some of them are on loan. We never had a squad that contained 35, 40, 45 players. Many other clubs put 45 players on the list."

"We don't have that many players at the moment. That's our reality. We have to do a lot in recent years, that's our current position."

"So, we have to develop there too and have more players from the academy. They are here to be fitter for a longer time."

"It's a permanent job and continues to grow. We have to be vigilant," said Arteta.

Arsenal will travel to Newcastle United on Thursday, February 6, 2025, for the Carabao Cup semi-final second leg match with the aim of reversing the 0-2 deficit from the first leg.

Meanwhile, despite failing to sign target players in the winter market, Arsenal opened up a wide chance to attract Benjamin Sesko from Red Bull Leipzig and Alexander Isak from Newcastle in the end of the season window for long-term targets.