Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has admitted his frustration at the inability to sign new players as he hoped but understands the reasons behind it and praises the club for maintaining their discipline. The Gunners
lost Gabriel Jesus and Bukayo Saka to injuries and had a £40million bid for Aston Villa forward Ollie Watkins rejected
in the January transfer window. Arsenal travel to Newcastle in the second leg of their Carabao Cup semi-final this week and Arteta said of the transfer market:
“We had a clear desire. We were open to exploring the possibility of improving the squad with players who could make an impact and we couldn’t do that. “
So we are disappointed and at the same time we know we need players with specific attributes. We had to be very disciplined about that and I think we did that. “
I don’t want to go into too much detail. We couldn’t improve for a number of reasons and we had to accept that. “
Quality-wise, we needed players who we really believed would make the team better and financially, we had a lot of things we had to control ourselves to continue to develop in the way that got us to this point. “Of course
there are things we can learn from but we have to move on. ทางเข้า UFABET สำหรับสมาชิกใหม่ สมัครวันนี้ รับโบนัสฟรี Nobody knows for sure whether it is better to sign new players. We will see at the end of the season.”
Arsenal have a 10-day break after the Newcastle game, and Arteta confirmed he will travel to Dubai for a training camp. On the squad, he continued:
“It’s not a gamble, it’s a reality we have to face. We have to use the players we have. A lot of teams have 45 players on their list and the reality is, at the moment, we don’t have that size. “
We have worked a lot over the years. Now we have to adapt as well. We have to use more players from the academy and the players we have have to stay fit longer. “
We have to be flexible now in the forward areas, with Trossard, Raheem, Nwaneri, Martinelli can play up front. At some point we will have to try and use something different.”