Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta applauds the fans (Photo by Carl Recine/Getty Images)
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta sent a pretty strong and clear message to the club through some deadline day business.
The Gunners manager hinted at his press conference today that there is an “urgent need” for a replacement for injured Mikel Merino.
See below for Arteta’s words, posted by journalists James Oley and Simon Collings on X…
“When you lose a big player like this, you have to look for them. We play every two or three days so we need players,” Arteta said.
Following Mikel Arteta’s message, who could Arsenal sign on deadline day?
It will be interesting to see if Arsenal’s leaders respond to Arteta’s message, with not much time left to achieve anything big.
We’ve already seen some surprising news today that AFC are targeting Newcastle United midfielder Sandro Tonali, but that rumor was quickly quashed.
Meanwhile, BBC Sport and others have reported that Arsenal are targeting talented young Hearts striker James Wilson.
There is a possibility that the Spanish international will be out for a long period of time, and there is no concrete information yet on who will replace Merino in midfield.
Fortunately, Arsenal have just brought back Kai Havertz from a long-term injury, but the club haven’t had much luck in that department over the past year and a half.
Merino is a quality player who will be difficult to replace and Arsenal could be in big trouble if anyone gets injured between now and May, so it’s easy to see why Arteta is pushing the club hard to add someone before the end of the day.

