Mikel Arteta’s side will be without Gabriel Jesus as the Premier League returns (Picture: Getty)
Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has revealed his plans for January and ‘guarantees’ that the club can ‘get a striker’ in the transfer window.
The Gunners are sat top of the Premier League table and are five points clear of second-placed Manchester City after a fantastic start for the north London side.
But as the top-flight gets back up and running, Arteta’s side will be without key striker Gabriel Jesus following his injury on Brazil duty at the World Cup in Qatar.
Jesus only arrived at the Emirates this summer in a £45m deal from City but the has already established himself as a important player.
The 25-year-old has registered five goals and six assists across his opening 14 Premier League games for the Gunners but is now set for a lengthy spell on the sidelines.
Arteta was plotting to replace Jesus with Eddie Nketiah – and was even considering redeploying Gabriel Martinelli as a centre forward – but now appears to have changed his mind and wants the club to bring in a new striker.
There will still be opportunities for Nketiah in the meantime, though, with Arteta labelling him a ‘key player’ and claims he has ‘more faith in [him] every single day’.
‘We knew the importance of getting players early in the summer and that is the same we want to do in January,’ Arteta said.
‘This is idealistic. Sometimes it is not realistic. But obviously, if you ask my opinion, as quick as possible we want the players in to get settled.
‘In this league with the competition, where the bar is and what the standards have been for the last four or five years – something the Premier League has not experienced in the past – we know that every point is going to be massively important.
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‘Can we afford not getting the player that we want? That is my question. We can afford to get a striker for sure if we want one, I don’t know if he plays in League Two, in League Five, in Spain, in Portugal, in Africa.
‘We can get a striker I can guarantee you that. But what we can not afford to do is get a player here that is not for us. This is what we can not afford, that is for sure.
‘We don’t need a body, we need players that make the team better. I think personalities that have the mentality that we want to win.
‘And we have to focus on that. We have to be very strict with what we have done and the policy we have had to make the team successful.
‘We are very aligned with the players we are looking for. Whether they are possible or affordable, the timing of it, depends on so many things that are out of my control. The theory says that it is a very tricky window.’
Quizzed about Nketiah, Arteta added: ‘I’ve more faith in Eddie every single day, because we see everyday what he brings to the team, what he is as a human being, the way he is developing as a player.
‘He is ready, that is why he signed his contract – he is key player in our squad.’
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