Arteta: We are trying the maximum before transfer window closes
Mikel Arteta has said the transfer window is an exciting part of the summer as he looks to ‘evolve’ his squad before the start of the new season.
So far, the Gunners have added Christos Tzolis, Bruno Guimaraes and Illan Meslier to the group, but have also missed out on high profile targets in the shape of Morgan Rogers and Vinicius Junior.
Speaking ahead of Sunday’s Community Shield clash with Man City, the Arsenal boss was inevitably asked about the ongoing attempts to attract new talent, as well as making room for new arrivals by making some sales.
“It’s a very exciting part of the season, when a lot of things happen,” he said.
“I think you create excitement; there’s an opportunity as well to evolve. There is a good way as well to understand what every player is feeling. We are trying the maximum that we can to end up in 14 days, 13 days in the best possible condition to compete for every possible competition.”
Refusing to be drawn on speculation linking the club with both Ezri Konsa and Jarell Quansah, he continued, “What I can tell you is the ambition of the club, it’s big, we want to improve the squad.
“We want to evolve the squad, and in order to achieve that, we have obviously detected some areas that can be strengthened and that’s what we are trying to do.”
Part of the reason the Rogers deal didn’t go through was because of a big gap in Arsenal’s valuation of the player and what Aston Villa wanted in light of Elliot Anderson’s £116m move to Man City earlier in the summer.
Asked if he’s been surprised by some the prices paid, Arteta said “Yes! But that’s the market, that means that there are clubs that are happy to invest or they believe that the valuations of those players are that, and that’s fair.
“At the end the value of the player is what somebody can pay for you, and they’ve done it so that’s the value and it’s the right one because someone is happy to sell and someone is happy to buy, and in the middle, a player is happy to move from one club to the other.
“So I think that’s fair.”
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