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Ornstein: Arsenal want to sign 2 new players as Arteta eyes ambitious swoop

By on January 14, 2020

Mikel Arteta Arsenal

Arsenal are hoping to bring in two new players on loan this month with Mikel Arteta eyeing a shock swoop for Manchester City defender John Stones, according to reports today.

We have endured a nightmare first half to the season as we currently languish way down in 10th position in the Premier League table and are 11 points off the top four so we need a miracle to get ourselves back in contention for Champions League qualification.

Arteta has made a solid start to life as Arsenal manager since being announced as Unai Emery’s permanent replacement but he knows he needs to strengthen the squad if we’re to rescue anything from the season.

Money is tight after we splashed around £130m in the summer so The Athletic journalist David Ornstein says Arsenal will be utilising the loan market this month and are hoping to bring in two new players.

Ornstein says Arteta has identified three areas that could be strengthened with a left-sided centre-back, a midfielder and a versatile full-back all on the agenda – but realistically we’ll only be able to bring in a maximum of two faces.

Ornstein said on The Ornstein & Chapman Podcast, as per the Express.

“I don’t know what assurances he was given, Mikel Arteta. But Arsenal are looking to make one to two loan signings during this January transfer window.

“They’re not close on any of them just yet I’m afraid but that’s in keeping with what we’ve been talking about with the rest of the league. It would be a maximum of one to two loans from what I’m told.

“Arteta feels he has a strong squad, especially when players come back from injury. My information is that one of those positions they are looking to fill is left centre-half, with a loan deal.

“There’s also suggestions possibly of a central midfielder and maybe someone to cover in the full-back areas, with the injuries they’ve got there.

“They spent heavily last summer, so that’s got to be factored into the equation, especially around FFP. They, like many clubs, much prefer the summer window, so you can expect Arsenal to spend again next summer.”

Calum Chambers has been ruled out for the rest of the season with a knee ligament injury and Kostas Mavropanos has been loaned out to Nuremberg so it’s good to hear the club are looking to bring in a new centre-back.

A surprise name has emerged as a potential target as The Sun are reporting that Arsenal are eyeing an audacious move to sign John Stones after he fell out of favour under Pep Guardiola at Manchester City.

Stones has even fallen down the pecking order behind Fernandinho with Guardiola opting to move the midfielder to centre-back during Aymeric Laporte’s injury so it’s clear the City boss has lost faith in him.

The Sun says Stones is keen to hold talks with Arsenal about a potential loan move as he wants to secure regular first team football to help boost his chances of making the England squad for this summer’s Euro 2020 finals.

Stones has lost his form at City but he has bags of ability and obviously Arteta knows him well from his time at the Etihad so we’ll have to trust his judgement. If Mikel thinks Stones would be a good addition to the team, that’s good enough for me.

However, I really don’t see it being realistic as City are highly unlikely to let him leave mid-season unless they find a suitable replacement – which won’t be easy in the January window.

We’ll have to see how things go over the coming weeks but I really hope Arsenal are able to bag a couple of decent players on loan as we need reinforcements!