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Written by Martin Graham | May 21 2022
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has admitted the club must be smart in the transfer window, with a busy summer ahead of Arsenal.
The north London side spent more than £150m on six players last summer, but it’s still clear that Arsenal still need some effective signings to sign in the summer window.
Arsenal have been disappointed this season and their fate is no longer in their hands. Arsenal need to beat Everton and hope relegated Norwich, Tottenham Hotspur, win on Sunday. Otherwise, it would be six consecutive seasons without the UEFA Champions League.
Lots of players in the transfer market are looking for Champions League football and Mikel Arteta admits the club must take a smart approach to their transfer dealings.
Arsenal play smart in the summer window
“We will have certain resources, not unlimited resources, some resources,” he said at a news conference on Friday. “With our resources we have to play and do what we have to do in the best possible way. We don’t know what the rest are going to get in terms of resources, which I suppose will be difficult because now they are not in the top three or the top four. Now the top eight or ten teams are involved. That’s why we have to find a way to do what we did again last summer.”
“All we did, was try to hit the goals we had after January – which was trying to challenge the top four, the way we were going to do that,” he added.
Arsenal failed to land Dusan Vlahovic in the January window, and the Serbian eventually joined Juventus. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang also left for Barcelona in January, leaving Alexandre Lacazette and Eddie Nketiah to be the club’s only top strikers.
Eddie Nkeitia and Alexandre Lacazette could leave in the summer, which means a striker may already be needed. Perhaps not surprisingly, Arsenal have been linked with Manchester City striker Gabriel Jesus. Arsenal will also need to sign a midfielder, as well as full-backs and midfielders to bolster their defensive line.
Arsenal’s summer budget is not yet known but Arteta already has an idea of what could be spent in terms of resources.
“It’s not just about that amount,” he said. “If you see (the bill) the wages we have and we have, it’s day and night. So it’s not just about spending, it’s about what you sold. We had 28 players and we ended up with 19 players on the team, so it’s about total spending. Because if it wasn’t This number is irrelevant. Because what is the total annual cost of the team you are building?”
