The January transfer window was a quiet one for Arsenal, despite Mikel Arteta being keen to add to his squad over the window.
The Gunners didn’t add any new signings to their squad, despite their need for attacking reinforcements. It’s a situation the Arsenal boss has admitted his disappointment at.
Speaking in his pre-match press conference ahead of the Carabao Cup clash against Newcastle, he said: “We had a clear intention which is always there is a window open to explore the opportunities to improve our squad with players that can impact it.
“We haven’t achieved it so we are disappointed in that sense but as well we are very aware that we only want to bring certain kind of players and we have to be very disciplined with that as well and I think that we will.”
Eyes will however turn to on the pitch matters, with Arsenal travelling to St James’ Park tonight (Wednesday), looking to turn around a 2-0 deficit in the Carabao Cup semi-final.
Ahead of that game, we’ve taken a look at a couple of the stories doing the rounds and given our own thoughts on the situations.
Transfer decision explained
One player who was expected to leave Arsenal during January but ended up staying was full-back Oleksandr Zinchenko. The Ukrainian has fallen down the pecking order this season and Arsenal were open to letting him go in January.
However, a move never materialised. According to The Athletic, Borussia Dortmund showed an interest in the full-back, but only on loan, while Arsenal were only prepared to sanction a permanent deal.
It means that Zinchenko will stay at Arsenal until at least the summer, with his deal expiring in 18 months time.
FL says : While Zinchenko has not been a regular this season, I can understand Arsenal’s stance on the transfer with him being a useful player to have around the squad. If they could have got a good transfer fee for the player on a permanent deal, then sanctioning an exit would have made sense.
However, if it had only been on loan, especially of there was not an obligation to buy as part of the deal, then it would have felt like Arsenal were weakening their squad without too much benefit.
Arsenal made late transfer ‘approach’
Arsenal made a late, unsuccessful transfer approach to Athletic Bilbao for forward Nico Williams in their search for attacking reinforcements, according to the Independent. Arsenal have been long-term admirers of the striker, with the club heavily linked back in the summer, with a deal unable to be reached.
It seems it was the same story this time around. Arsenal were keen to add a striker to their squad following injuries to both Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Jesus over the last few weeks, leaving them short for the second half of the campaign.
FL says : In an ideal world, Arsenal would have brought in a striker who would provide more attacking prowess to their squad to try and close the gap on Liverpool. Williams would have fit the bill, but it’s one that the Gunners could return to in the summer, if they believe that they will get a better deal then.
In the final days of the transfer window, selling teams would have known their desperation to bring players in and hiked up the price on any potential signings. They are likely to get more for their money when the summer window comes around.
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