Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has revealed that the club are still hunting reinforcements in the transfer market.
So far, the Spanish coach has added to his squad with the free transfer of Willian from Chelsea and the £27m acquisition of defender Gabriel Magalhaes from Lille.
But the Gunners continue to be linked with a host of top names, including Lyon’s Houssem Aouar and Atletico Madrid’s Thomas Partey in midfield – and Arteta admitted the club are still ‘active in the market.’
‘We are looking at different options. I would say we are active in the market for players in and out,’ he said, in his pre-match press conference before their Premier League opener at Fulham on Saturday.
‘At the moment the squad balance is not the ideal we want to achieve so there is still some work to do.
‘We have to bear in mind the complication with this transfer market and the complexity and the timing, because you can see that clubs are behaving in many different ways and it is a little bit uncertain how this will work in the next few weeks.
‘It is going to be very difficult to achieve what we want in one window or two windows.
‘It is a process, it has to evolve and most importantly it has to be a sustainable model that we can consistently feed in using our academy players.’
This summer’s transfer window closes on Monday, October 5, with a domestic-only window expiring on October 16.
Meanwhile, Arteta confirmed that fans need not be concerned about the future of captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, despite the fact he is yet to sign an extension to his current deal which expires next summer.
‘I can say that I am even more confident than I was at the end of last season when you asked me the same question 10 times!’ Arteta said, when asked about the 31-year-old’s future.
‘I am very optimistic. I think [those fans who are worried] can be pretty relaxed!’
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