With Man City in the FA Cup tomorrow, Mikel Arteta met with the press yesterday. Tomorrow we will deal with the news about the team and the preview of the game, but the most interesting part of the press conference came towards the end when they asked him about the absence of Mohamed Elneny amid rumors that the midfielder could be out for the rest of the season. .
arteta said:
There are some concerns, especially since Mo never complains about anything, but let’s see.
He had some knee problems that we are assessing at the moment and we will have to see how he evolves in the coming days.
The Egyptian international reportedly suffered a knock in training ahead of the North London derby, so he was absent because of it and was not in the squad for the win over Man Utd on Sunday. He’s been around, I mentioned him congratulating Eddie on yesterday’s blog, so it’s not like he’s on crutches or anything, but it sounds like something’s up.
Mikel Arteta rarely reveals much when it comes to injuries, so even saying there are some concerns around a question about Elneny’s involvement for the rest of the season could be telling. If there’s a major problem, you can understand why, with less than a week left in the transfer window, Arsenal want to keep it a secret. It’s hard enough to get deals done in January, so if every potential sales club knows there’s some desperation going on, it won’t get any easier.
He was then asked about new signings in January following the arrival of Leandro Trossard and Jakub Kiwior. The Polish international is a central midfielder who has played in midfield, but my suspicion is that Arsenal don’t really have plans to do that. Which isn’t to say it can’t happen in a pinch, just that I think they see it as another option to give Gabriel depth, coverage and competition as a defender.
About the new signings, Arteta said:
Ideally we need a little more coverage in midfield if we can, but in this market it’s quite difficult to do that.
He then went on to talk about how the focus is getting the best out of the players you have, etc., which is part of minimizing our need publicly. However, reading between the lines as much as we can, it looks like he wants a new midfielder before the window closes. In some ways, there are parallels to the summer when we found ourselves in this same position towards the end of the window due to injuries to Elneny and Thomas Partey. This time, at least, we have assured the attacking player that he wanted the coach, but it is still a rather delicate situation.
I think we’d all like more depth in midfield, but the thing to keep in mind here is the public, and rather unfortunate, fact that our summer target is expensive and high-profile. There is no way the club is going to leak the Declan Rice links, they would have preferred that to take place behind the scenes as much as possible, but he is out there and they have to deal with it.
Again, there are parallels with another window, this time last January. At that point, we held our fire and waited for the main target, and no one can argue that Gabriel Jesus wasn’t the right signing in the summer. The problem was that by doing nothing we fell a bit short of securing the top four. This time, the stakes are even higher. What we might miss by a small margin will feel a lot worse, even considering that it was Spurs who beat us in the Champions League last May.
If Declan Rice is available in the summer for Arsenal, they should give it a try. He is an excellent player with a lot of experience in the Premier League and the best years ahead of him. However, whether we like it or not, that plays a role in what happens now. Not just from a club perspective and how we might need to use the resources and funds in the market, but also the type of player you can get in the last few days of the window.
Arsenal would certainly be an attractive destination for many players at the moment, I don’t think you have to work too hard to convince someone to come, but at the same time if they see a future that means a lot. of time on the bench because you’re competing with existing midfielders + potentially someone like Rice in the summer, could be a consideration. The fact that Partey and Xhaka are heading towards the September of their careers might help, as would the relative safety of Champions League football next season, but it’s not as straightforward as it sounds. And that’s not even talking about who might be available this month, as many clubs don’t want to sell in January and players often don’t want to move mid-season either. Good players tend to be at good clubs that have things to play for and don’t want to end up weakened in the final days of the window with little time to react.
None of that lessens the need for Arsenal, of course, but we’ll have to cross our fingers that between now and 11pm on Tuesday night we can get something done.
Ok, let’s leave it there for now. We’re back tomorrow with an FA Cup preview and a new Arsecast. Until then.
