Mikel Arteta has admitted to having a “big concern” about how Arsenal can compete because of the lack of transfer funds.
Arsenal beat Liverpool 2-1 on Wednesday, but they were the second best for important periods and stayed in there and took advantage of Liverpool’s defensive errors.
Despite being happy with the win, Arteta has no illusions about how far Arsenal should compete with Liverpool and Manchester City, let alone Chelsea, Manchester United and Leicester City ahead of them on the table.
Speaking with our partners in the UK Sky Sports, Arteta was asked how troubling the lack of funds for the transfer of Arsenal is.
“It is a great concern. You can see how [Liverpool] build their team and there is no magic, you have to improve the team with quality and quality players. And we need a bigger team to compete in this competition, “said Arteta.” This is the challenge. It’s a huge job. You just have to look at the difference between the two teams: it’s huge. The gap in many areas we can’t improve it in two months, but the gap between responsibility, energy, commitment and struggle between the two teams is now the same. It wasn’t like that before. I’m very proud of it. The rest will take some time, but at least we have it now and the my message to gamers is that we can create something. “
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Arteta is a realist and realistically did practically everything he could with this group of players during his first seven months at Arsenal.
It made them more solid on the defensive, something that is crucial as he recently told ProSoccerTalk, but with the players at his disposal, he is close to making the most of their potential.
Arsenal will likely need two new center backs and a midfielder in possession to get started. Arteta will have to get creative in the transfer market to do so and may have to sacrifice Alexandre Lacazette and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to rebuild his defense.
Rob Holding, Shkodran Mustafi, Sokratis, David Luiz and Callum Chambers are his current central defender options and have young William Saliba coming up for next season. Holding, Chambers and Saliba are likely to be Arsenal’s only three long-term central defenders.
Premier League?" data-reactid="27">In midfield, Matteo Guendouzi will likely leave, while Dani Ceballos was a revelation in a deeper role, but his loan from Real Madrid ends soon and Arsenal is unlikely to afford to buy it permanently. Granit Xhaka is what it is. Solid enough but not a turning point, while Lucas Torreira is back in shape but strong enough to thrive in the Premier League?
If Arsenal could sign Thomas Partey and Kalidou Koulibaly, it would be perfect for strengthening their defensive unity because we all know they have a lot of qualities on offense. However, a loan move for Samuel Umtiti in the middle of the back seems more likely and Arsenal can afford Partey?
It remains to be seen whether Arteta gets the funds he needs and if he doesn’t, it’s hard to see this current Arsenal team do anything but challenge for the top four places, if everything goes the right way and their players play on top of their potential.
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Arteta has a great concern about the lack of funds for the transfer of Arsenal originally appeared on NBCSports.com
