Arsenal report: Mikel Arteta committed to signing winger in January

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta during the Premier League match between Arsenal FC and Fulham FC at Emirates Stadium on August 27, 2022 in London, England.
(Image credit: Stuart MacFarlane/Arsenal FC via Getty Images)

Arsenal are going to add a winger to their squad in January, after failing to land one during the summer transfer window.

That's according to reports that state that Mikel Arteta is committing to signing a wide man, since he wants new signing Marquinhos to experience more minutes of competitive football and can't offer the Brazilian the adequate game-time. 

Marquinhos joined the Gunners for £3 million over the summer and scored on his first start in an Arsenal shirt against Zurich in the Europa League last week. With the Gunners playing four competitions, having extra bodies in the squad is useful – especially as the youngster can fill in for Bukayo Saka. 

Marquinhos of Arsenal scores their team's first goal during the UEFA Europa League group A match between FC Zürich and Arsenal FC at Kybunpark on September 08, 2022 in St Gallen, Switzerland.

Marquinhos scored and registered an assist on his first Arsenal start (Image credit: Christian Kaspar-Bartke/Getty Images)

But Marquinhos is still raw and Arteta would like to give him the freedom to develop away from Arsenal at the top level, with The Sun claiming that the Spaniard will look to loan out the 19-year-old in January. 

Losing another right-winger would surely all but confirm that the Gunners will bring another in, as the competitions come thick and fast after Christmas. The north Londoners have been linked with a number of options in wide positions, too.

Recently, Shakhtar Donetsk winger Mykhaylo Mudryk told Ben Jacobs of CBS Sports that he would find it difficult to say no to Arteta after Arsenal were linked with his signature in the last week of the transfer window. Shakhtar director Darijo Srna told HITC that he believes the 21-year-old is on a level with Vinicius Junior and Kylian Mbappe.

Wolverhampton Wanderers No.7 Pedro Neto was also touted for a transfer to the Emirates Stadium, too, after The Athletic broke the news of talks between the two clubs. A move never materialised. 

Pedro Neto of Wolverhampton Wanderers prepares to take a corner during the Premier League match between Wolverhampton Wanderers and Newcastle United at Molineux on August 28, 2022 in Wolverhampton, England.

Pedro Neto is thought to be a target for Arsenal in January (Image credit: Jack Thomas - WWFC/Wolves via Getty Images)

Arsenal are also said to be interested in moving for another central midfielder, with their Deadline Day pursuit for Douglas Luiz ending in failure. Youri Tielemans was also on the radar throughout the summer. 

The Gunners are still top of the league. 

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Arsenal were looking for a “mystery winger” to complete their squad, while a midfielder was also been touted. 

After Nicolas Pepe left the Gunners for more minutes on loan at Nice, manager Mikel Arteta declared a desire to “add firepower”, though he could not guarantee a new player will come in. The Gunners still have interest in Pedro Neto, as well as a Ukrainian wonderkid

Mohamed Elneny’s injury means that midfield is a little weak right now. FFT reported months ago that personal terms with Youri Tielemans were agreed, with the north Londoners just needing to agree a fee with Leicester: one obstacle remained on Deadline Day. In other news, Bukayo Saka has hinted that he’s close to extending his contract

Mark White
Content Editor

Mark White is the Digital Content Editor at FourFourTwo. During his time on the brand, Mark has written three cover features on Mikel Arteta, Martin Odegaard and the Invincibles, and has written pieces on subjects ranging from Sir Bobby Robson’s time at Barcelona to the career of Robinho. An encyclopedia of football trivia and collector of shirts, he first joined the team back in 2020 as a staff writer.