Mikel Arteta’s comments suggest Arsenal and Man Utd have same transfer plan
Mikel Arteta hinted that Arsenal won't be splashing much cash if any at all this January when pointing out that Thomas Partey is the club's "main signing".
Partey joined in the summer but has struggled with injuries this campaign.
Arteta is hopeful that when he returns for Arsenal it will be as if the club have made a January signing, telling the press: "He was our main signing. We've been missing him.
"He brings something different to the team, he's a player with an enormous talent. But as well someone that can transform the team the way we want.
"It's great if we can have him, keep him healthy and I think he will contribute in a really positive way. He's done the most part training the last few days.
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"He's feeling good and we will assess him. He needs another two or three good sessions to see if he's 100 per cent OK to play. And if that's the case, great news for us."
Arteta also pointed to the fact that it can be difficult for a January signing to settle in midway through a season, and that sometimes it's better to wait until the end of the campaign.
"Every [new] player is going to need time to adapt," added Arteta.
"It's which qualities this player is bringing, what is the past of that player, where has he been, has he been in a different country, does he speak the language, is he familiar with a certain style of playing?
"There are a lot of conditions that, in my opinion. affect whether that player can have an immediate impact or not in a team. For me, there are really key things to consider before making any steps to bring anyone in in January."
Arteta's comments are in someways very similar to Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's at Man United.
The Red Devils boss recently spoke of his excitement in welcoming 'new signing' Amad Diallo to the club – a man who agreed terms with United in the summer window.
The comments suggest United won't be splashing much cash either this January.
Solskjaer said: "We have had all the paperwork, I can't see any obstacles. He's coming. I hope very soon he will be with us. I'm very excited about bringing him in. I think he's shown a few times his qualities.
"Of course he has to learn to play in England, that's a different level of football. We'll give him time to develop and to express himself. Apart from that, I'm not really thinking too much on what we're going to do with players. Of course, we're always working long-term.
"That's the big thing. We have targets we need long-term for the club."
Solskjaer's comments also coincide with ones made by Manchester United's executive vice chairman Ed Woodward, who made it clear the club considers the summer to be the main window in which to conduct transfer business.
Woodward said earlier this season: "Of course, we recognise there's more hard work ahead to achieve the consistency needed to win trophies.
"But we see positive signs on the pitch and the training ground that reinforce our belief in the progress being made by Ole, his coaching team and the players.
"I told this forum back in April that we remained committed to strengthening the squad, while being disciplined in our spending during the pandemic.
"I believe we've delivered on that, with the additions we made during the summer taking our total net spending to over €200million (£180m) since summer 2019 – more than any other major European club over that period.
"We will continue to support Ole with a planned, long-term approach to recruitment, focused on the summer windows."
All things considered, both Arteta and Solskjaer are suggesting this January could be a very quiet one at their respective clubs. But, of course, the managers could just be putting the rest of the league off the scent.
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