Arsenal: Mikel Arteta ‘actively looking’ at signings in January transfer window

Arsenal will “actively pursue” potential signings during the January transfer window, manager Mikel Arteta has said.

The Gunners spent around £250 million this summer and signed eight new players as they looked to increase the quality of their squad to cope with a busy fixture list and compete for trophies in several competitions.

Last season, Arsenal’s campaign was decimated by injuries.

They were without defender Gabriel Magalhaes for the latter part of the season and played with midfielder Mikel Merino as a makeshift striker as they finished second in the Premier League for a third consecutive season and were knocked out in the Champions League semi-finals by Paris St-Germain.

This season, the Gunners have also been plagued by injuries. They lost Kai Havertz on matchday one, while captain Martin Odegaard and Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Martinelli, Noni Madueke and Max Dowman were absent.

Now, after injuries mainly affecting attacking players, it is Arsenal’s backline that is suffering.

Arteta was forced to play Declan Rice in an unfamiliar right-back position against Brighton on Saturday because Jurrien Timber was injured and Riccardo Calafiori suffered a problem in the warm-up.

Gabriel returned from injury in the 2-1 win, but the return dates of Cristhian Mosquera, Timber and Calafiori are unknown.

“We are going to be really aware of the situation and the schedule of certain players,” Arteta said.

“We have to actively search, and can we do that or not?

“That’s another story, but our job is to always be very prepared because something can happen.”