Mikel Arteta refused to give much away when he was quizzed on potential transfer targets by Jamie Carragher - but the Arsenal chief did make it clear that the club are still hoping to get more business done in the coming weeks.
The Gunners made the perfect start to the new Premier League season by beating Crystal Palace 2-0 at Selhurst Park courtesy of a first-half header from Gabriel Martinelli and a late own goal from Marc Guehi. Arteta handed league debuts to summer signings Oleksandr Zinchenko and Gabriel Jesus, who both impressed against the Eagles.
Arsenal have splashed the cash again in the off-season in a bid to try and gatecrash the top-four, with Fabio Vieira, who missed the Crystal Palace clash, also arriving for a significant sum. Matt Turner and Marquinhos have also linked up with Arteta's squad this summer.
But Arteta is still hoping to bolster his side between now and September, when the transfer window shuts - even if he failed to give much away when he was cheekily asked by Carragher for some names after Friday night's positive result against Palace.
Speaking on transfers after the match, Arteta told Sky Sports: “We are going to try, there are few things that we have planned and if we can do them, that would be great. But for now we will work with the players we have - we are in the middle of the season already and the focus should be on getting the best out of the players we have.”
When he was pressed for names by Carragher, Arteta politely refused to divulge any extra information, but Carragher's fellow Sky Sports pundit, Gary Neville, believes that the only area in the Arsenal squad that could potentially use some extra fine-tuning in the coming weeks is midfield.
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Speaking after Arteta's comments, Neville said: "I can only think central midfield, if Xhaka got injured or Partey got injured. That could cause a problem. I can’t think of anywhere else.
“Zinchenko could go in there…but that’s the only I can think of. Maybe right-back. But they’ve got right-back…Tomiyasu is going to come back.
“I think a really top midfield player - even tonight Xhaka got booked, I always think he’s going to let you down at some point. You should plan for that now because you know it’s coming. If they could get another midfield player - it’s been a good transfer window anyway - but that would finish it off.”
