'It is what it is' - Mikel Arteta's 'realistic' assessment of Arsenal's injury concerns and need of new signings

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has made a big statement amidst the club's rising injury concerns. He indicated some new signings in the upcoming transfer window next month, January 2025. Notably, the club might be able to take the field without seven important players while taking on Monaco in the Champions League. 

There were a few names missing from Tuesday’s training session; the list includes the likes of Gabriel, Riccardo Calafiori, Jurrien Timber, Oleksandr Zinchenko and Thomas Partey. This dilemma also translates into the fact that Kieran Tierney could take the field for Arsenal after a long wait of 16 months.

The window allows us to strengthen the team - Mikel Arteta 

Meanwhile, Arsenal's manager went on to confess that the Gunners need to strengthen their squad if injury scares continue to be a ‘thing’ with them.

“The window allows us to strengthen the team if we feel that is needed and we feel that we have the capacity to do that as well. We are on it and just have to assess the situation because it is changing every week. At the moment not for the better, but I'm positive that in a few weeks, we're going to be in a better place,” said Arteta ahead of Arsenal’s clash against Monaco.

“It is what it is. In the end, we have to accept the challenge and its opportunities for other players to do that. In the ideal scenario, we have to be in charge of making those decisions because it's forcing us to make it for the wrong reasons, but as well, we also need to accept the reality and move forward,” he added later.

Furthermore, the former Arsenal midfielder also spoke about the importance of players adapting themselves to settle and play in different positions.

“I'm really happy with the way that we are playing, and the good thing is that it's not conditioning the team in such a way that we have to become a different team. So, I'm very pleased with, the way the team is adapting, the way players are making the effort to play in different positions and hopefully the ideal situation will come up very soon and we can do what we want,” he said