'We Are Arsenal, We Have To...': Mikel Arteta Hints At January Signings

Despite having one of the deepest squads in the Premier League, Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta hasn’t yet shut the door on further additions in the winter transfer window of January 2026. The Spaniard on Sunday

suggested that for a club of their size, they have to be looking at any opportunity that comes their way.

Injuries to key players at the most unfortunate times have been a theme of Arsenal’s three consecutive second-placed finishes in the Premier League. Even this season, if they were ravaged by multiple absentees in the forward line for the first quarter, the effects are now visible on the other side, with four defenders, Jurrien Timber, Riccardo Calafiori, Ben White, and Cristhian Mosquera, all absent from their 2-1 win against Brighton.

It’s to the courtesy of this expensively assembled deep squad that they are still two points in the league at the top of the table, and perfect in the UEFA Champions League.

“The window is there and I mean we are Arsenal and we have to be looking at it – ‘Okay, what do we need?’ And we have to be actively looking and then, whether we can do it or not, that’s a different story,” Arteta said at the press conference on the eve of Arsenal’s key home clash against Aston Villa.

“But our job is to always be very prepared because something can happen, so hopefully it’ll be very positive. When you look across the other clubs, they have 24 or 25 squad players. Although we have had more injuries than expected, some of them not avoidable, we want to be better and we know how important the part of having the right availability with players is going to be this season,” he said.

Arsenal’s closest competitors, Manchester City, are set to again splurge heavily in the January market, with the signing of Bournemouth winger Antoine Semenyo said to be close.

The Gunners have been previously burned by not being proactive in January — however, this year, it would be more complicated than just getting reinforcements, as the squad is already quite bloated in some areas. The likes of Ethan Nwaneri and Christian Norgaard have struggled for game time.

Finding the right balance to fine-tune the squad could be the way to go as Arsenal aim to lift their first league title since 2004.