Mikel Arteta continues to work hard and fast in the transfer market, and for the benefit of his club in the short and medium term.
Targets have been identified and captured, even though they won’t officially play for the club until the summer.
It does show some foresight on the Spaniard’s part, however, in that he is continuing to build and has confidence that he will have the backing of his board as he does so.
One player that has been secured is New England Revolution goalkeeper, Matt Turner, according to The Athletic.
His hire will allow Bernd Leno to finally depart the Gunners after Arteta made it perfectly clear that Aaron Ramsdale was now the No.1 custodian at the club.
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One player that the Spaniard would like to have seen arrive this January is PSV Eindhoven’s Cody Gakpo.
Footmercato, cited by Mirror, suggested that the Gunners were leading the race to sign the exciting front man, however, PSV released a statement on their official website to say that the player had signed an extension to his current deal.
Although his contract now runs until 2026, importantly, it specifies that the player will remain with the club for the remainder of this season.
Reading between the lines, one can infer that, perhaps, the Dutch giants have made such a move in order to get a better price for the player in July.
That may or may not suit Arsenal and Arteta, depending on how much they still want the striker.