Mikel Arteta is determined to win the Premier League this season, thus far Arsenal has actually proven themselves in the first half of the tournament. However, Arteta being the calculative man he is, is planning to acquire more players in the next transfer period.
However, unfortunately he has been warned not to overspend during the next transfer period. It is still undetermined how his players who will be joining the upcoming World Cup will fare in terms of injuries.
Arsenal players headed to the World Cup
Bukayo Saka, Granit Xhaka, Aaron Ramsdale and William Saliba are going to Qatar this month to represent their respective countries.
They will compete in the Dubai Super Cup in December. This is all happening concurrently with the World Cup on going. They will compete in Dubai along with Liverpool, AC Milan and Lyon.
However, Arsenal will not be competing directly against Liverpool, but they will play against Milan and Lyon on the 8th and 13th December. The games will be played in the Al-Maktoum stadium.
Arteta stated, “It’s an easy trip as one of the biggest sponsors we have in Emirates is part of it, plus we’ve been there and know the facilities and it’s a really good environment to work.
“The weather is spectacular and then the World Cup is so close, so for any player that is around there, it is so easy to get them back straight away. I think it ticks all the boxes that we need. We need good preparation mentally and physically to be ready for the huge demands that the second part of the season is going to bring to the team.
“We have two great games against Lyon and Milan and we are really looking forward to it. They’re two big clubs and it’ll be tough competition, and for us, it’s a great test to see where we are.”
Arteta’s intentions
This is just days after Arteta stated publicly that he will look at the January transfer window as an opportunity to revamp his team. Fans’ responses were that their main concerns are the midfield and the winger. They claim that Arsenal needs improving on that specific aspect.
Fans were also questioning whether Arteta is boosting his team or buying the whole league. He was also complimented on handling the press well in comparison to other league managers.
There were naysayers that claimed that his days as a manager are finished. However, to be fair, even well performing managers such as Thomas Tuchel were sacked and replaced with the likes of Graham “Harry” Potter.
A former Arsenal legend, Lauren stated his opinion about Arteta’s intentions. He claimed that Arteta should not focus on winning just this Premier League title by spending money in January.
Lauren advised to “maintain the current momentum” that Arsenal has. This would be a better way to maintain the team’s current strong position.
Lauren then added “Keep encouraging the players because the difference from this squad to last year is the fact that we can maintain the consistency in the 90 minutes and over two, three or four consecutive games.”
“We haven’t seen that for a long time, so the fact that the team at the moment is playing with that kind of confidence, I don’t think we have to think about who can come in in the window. If we can keep this level of performance until the end of January, I believe that we can be considered seriously and fight for the title.”
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