Arsenal’s Arteta expects difficult January transfer window

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta says the club do not have much room to manoeuvre in the January transfer window and may have to offload players before they can add to the first-team squad.

Arsenal are reportedly looking for a creative midfielder, with RB Salzburg’s Dominik Szoboszlai and Olympique Lyonnais’ Houssem Aouar among the options being considered, while Arteta would also like to improve his defensive options.

“We are planning, talking with (technical director) Edu and with the club about the things we can do in January,” Arteta told reporters.

“But at the moment it’s pretty difficult, unpredictable as well. In terms of places, we are very restricted in the moment.

“We will need to do something knowing the limitations of that market in January and the limitations we have as well to sign players.”

Arsenal, who lost to Wolverhampton Wanders on Sunday, are 14th in the Premier League after 10 games and Arteta said they were not on track to meet their objectives.

“It’s not acceptable and we have to change it,” he said. “We can say, ‘Yeah but the referee did that, he didn’t score, we should have done that’, but this is where we are.”

Arsenal, who have already qualified for the Europa League knockout stages, host Rapid Vienna in Group B later on Thursday.