19 January 2024 , 15:35
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Mikel Arteta has ended the constant speculation surrounding Arsenal's search for a striker and admitted the Gunners will not make an attacking addition this month.
Ahead of Arsenal's Saturday lunchtime kick-off against Crystal Palace, the north Londoners are in a rut that has seen them lose their last three games and win just one of their last seven. Throughout that run of fixtures, Arsenal's attackers have been guilty of wasting a number of glorious chances.
The likes of Gabriel Jesus, Kai Havertz, Gabriel Martinelli and even Bukayo Saka have all spurned some gilt-edged opportunities, which in turn has led to the clamour for a new striker from fans to grow louder. Brentford talisman Ivan Toney has long-been linked with a move to the Emirates, while Bologna's Joshua Zirkzee is also a name often touted with the Gunners
However, those members of the Emirates faithful holding out hope that a new striker will get the Gunners title charge back on track have been dealt a huge blow amid Arteta's most recent remarks. Ahead of the game against Palace, the Spaniard was asked if a new striker would be joining this month.
He replied: "No. But, first thing, that’s because I love the players that we have." Arteta did concede just before the new year that a new striker would be unlikely this month, but his latest comments are all but confirmation there will be no new faces in the red half of north London this month.
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The Arsenal boss was notably optimistic despite the lack of business, calling for his players to repay the faith shown in them by the fans. He added: "We need to get the crowd going but they’ve been exceptional with us.
"We are recharged, super motivated. We want to attack the second half of the season, we have a lot of ambitions and understand that the team is capable of big things.
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Arsenal's attack have found goals hard to come by in recent weeks despite making many chances (Rob Newell - CameraSport via Getty Images)"We feel fully recharged. [The break] gave us the opportunity to look at things with perspective. We take positives from the first six months despite recent results."
Arteta did also reassure fans that the Gunners have been working hard to rectify the errors and weaknesses that were on full display against the likes of West Ham, Fulham and Liverpool in recent weeks. The Arsenal boss admitted there is work to be done before his side are back to their best.
"You have to look at it objectively so that you can dissect the game and understand what happened. There are things that we can improve and do better. Those marginal gains have to be installed and that is what we have been doing over the last few days."