Former Arsenal man Alan Smith has insisted that the club are strong enough as they are to win the Premier League title this season.
Arsene Wenger made his first move in the window last week with the £5m signing of Mohamed Elneny, and it is expected that the Frenchman will refrain from doing any further business.
While that strategy will attract criticism given the injuries to key players in the squad currently, Smith is adamant that they have enough to cope before the likes of Alexis Sanchez, Danny Welbeck, Santi Cazorla and Francis Coquelin return.
“Danny Welbeck is apparently on three weeks away [from returning] and that will help them if he comes back in the kind of form he is capable of,” Smith told Sky Sports.
“Any manager would love to get in a world-class player to give the dressing room a lift but it’s so difficult and I don’t think it’s going to happen.
“I think they’ve got enough. They didn’t have (Mesut) Ozil or (Alexis) Sanchez at Stoke and they were able to cope with that, and they’re due back soon so they’re not far off full strength.”
Smith added that the development of the squad into title contenders has been down to the current group of players building a new level of resilience, which has seen them pick up important results along the way.
An example of that was the draw with Stoke City at the weekend as the Gunners bounced back despite throwing away a victory at Anfield against Liverpool last week to draw 3-3.
Whether or not the decision to not strengthen the squad in January comes back to haunt Wenger remains to be seen, but the Gunners will be hoping to protect their position at the top of the table in the coming months with 16 games remaining in the campaign.