The Arsenal transfers that hint when Moises Caicedo could sign as Mikel Arteta gets his wish
Mikel Arteta, the manager of Arsenal, is well aware of the excitement surrounding transfer deadline day.
Since his appointment in December 2019, the Spaniard has endured six of these during his tenure as manager of the Arsenal.
Soon, he will have supervised his seventh, with the 31st of January representing his final opportunity to add to his first-team roster until the summer.
As has been the case on numerous deadline days during his tenure as Arsenal manager, Arteta has reached this point having made significant signings, including Leandro Trossard and Jakub Kiwior prior to last weekend’s 3-2 victory over Manchester United.
With the latest transfer deadline quickly approaching and concerns that Mohamed Elneny’s knee injury could sideline him for the remainder of the season, Arteta has stated that he would prefer to sign a new midfielder amid rumors involving Moises Caicedo, Ibrahima Bamba, and Martin Zubimendi.
“Well, we need some more cover in midfield ideally if we can. In this market it’s pretty complicated to do that,” he told football.london ahead of his side’s 1-0 defeat against Manchester City.
If, in a perfect world, Arsenal were to sign one of the aforementioned midfielders – or spring a surprise like they did with Fabio Vieira last summer and most recently with Kiwior – then fans would have every reason to remain optimistic about the club’s chances of winning the Premier League.
Arteta has completed as many as 14 deals for first-team players on the final day of a transfer window – whether that be in the summer or the winter – in 2020, 2021, and 2022. Therefore, there is a good chance that the Gunners will be busy on Tuesday.
However, only four of these transactions have been incoming. In 2020, Cedric Soares and Thomas Partey completed their moves to north London across both transfer windows, Takehiro Tomiyasu was a deadline day signing in the summer of 2021, and Auston Trusty’s arrival a year ago surprised many.
Looking back on Arsenal’s activities on the transfer deadline under Arteta, the primary focus has been on reducing the first-team roster. Several years ago, for instance, Shkodran Mustafi was permitted to join Schalke on a free transfer following an agreement to terminate his contract, while Ainsley Maitland-Niles and Joe Willock joined West Brom and Newcastle United respectively on loan.
The fact that sporting director and Spaniard Edu Gaspar has previously authorized a deadline day exit for players in need of minutes suggests that there may be a few announcements regarding outgoings before Tuesday at 11 p.m., most likely loan moves.
Hector Bellerin, Ainsley Maitland-Niles, Trusty, Lucas Torreira, Bernd Leno, Pablo Mari, Nicolas Pepe, Nuno Tavares, Folarin Balogun, Runar Alex Runarsson, and Arthur Okonkwo all left in the summer, either temporarily or permanently, leaving only Cedric and possibly Marquinhos as potential first-team departures.
Therefore, the fact that Arteta has signed a player on four of the six transfer deadline days he has encountered may indicate that Arsenal fans can anticipate at least one more arrival this month. Perhaps Caicedo will join, or a decision will be made to loan Ivan Fresneda back to Real Valladolid for the remainder of the season.
The Arsenal transfers that hint when Moises Caicedo could sign as Mikel Arteta gets his wish
