“Actively looking” – Arteta sends message to Arsenal chiefs over “need” for Deadline Day signing
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has sent what sounds like a pretty strong and clear message to the club over some Deadline Day business.
The Gunners boss was speaking at his press conference today, and suggested there is an urgent “need” to replace the injured Mikel Merino.
See below for Arteta’s quotes, as posted on X by journalists James Olley and Simon Collings…
Arteta left the door open for Arsenal to make a late move in the market to replace the injured Mikel Merino. Says the club are “actively looking at options” and “when you lose a big player like this, you need to look and we need to do everything we possibly can.”
— James Olley (@JamesOlley) February 2, 2026
Arteta pretty bullish on trying to get someone in:
“When you lose a big player like this. You need to look.
“We need players because we play every two, three days.”
— Simon Collings (@sr_collings) February 2, 2026
“When you lose a big player like this. You need to look. We need players because we play every two, three days,” Arteta said.
Who could Arsenal sign on Deadline Day after Mikel Arteta message?
It will be interesting to see if Arsenal chiefs respond to Arteta’s message, with not a lot of time left to get anything major done.
We’ve already seen surprise stories today about AFC targeting Newcastle United midfielder Sandro Tonali, but those rumours were quickly shut down.
Meanwhile, BBC Sport and others have reported on Arsenal targeting talented young Hearts striker James Wilson.
We’re yet to hear anything more concrete on someone who could replace Merino in midfield, with the Spain international looking like being out for the long-term.
Luckily, Arsenal have just got Kai Havertz back from a serious long-term injury, but the club just haven’t had much good fortune in that department in the last year and a half.
Merino is a quality player who’ll be hard to replace, and if anyone else gets injured between now and May then Arsenal could be in real trouble, so it’s easy to see why Arteta seems to be pushing hard for the club to get someone in before the end of today.
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