While Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp and Tottenham Hotspur boss Mauricio Pochettino have declared their sides disinterested in acquisitions this January transfer window, Arsenal coach Unai Emery says his club is scoping out the market.
None of these statements are really surprising when you consider that Liverpool had a blockbuster summer transfer window and hence no need to do any shopping now. Tottenham were literally the first team in transfer window history to not buy anybody this past summer, so no one really expected them to do much in January.
As for Arsenal, they are dealing with an injury crisis in the back line, and were thus expected to dive into the January market in order to beef up the back line. Emery confirmed that Arsenal are indeed looking for a central defender this window, and in the hunt for a winger, on both sides.
“I think the club is working for the possibility to take some players who can help us during these next four months,” Emery told a news conference after the club’s FA Cup third round win over Blackpool.
“Maybe the transfer market can help us with a centre-back, but it is not easy because also [Konstantinos] Mavropanos is also coming back after injury. Also a winger, right or left, one player can help us in this position.”
In regards to winger targets, Emery was asked specifically about Barcelona man Denis Suarez, who has been linked to the club in tabloid transfer rumors.
Emery gave a neither confirm nor deny response, saying he didn’t know the latest on that situation. He also referred back to the time that he managed Suarez at Sevilla, when the 24-year-old player was on loan. Reportedly, the Spain international has been given the green light to leave the Camp Nou, and priced at £18 million in the transfer market.
So watch this space, it appears that Unai Emery and Arsenal could make some moves this January.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, a former writer for NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, regularly appears as a guest pundit on WGN CLTV and co-hosts the “Let’s Get Weird, Sports” podcast on SB Nation.
He also contributes sociopolitical essays to Chicago Now. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram. The content of his cat’s Instagram account is unquestionably superior to his.