Arteta says club is trying to assess goalkeeper situation in the January transfer window
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has said that the club is trying to assess the goalkeeper situation in the January transfer window.
The Gunners signed Alex Runarsson from French side Dijon in the summer transfer window. Emiliano Martinez left the North London club for Aston Villa in the same window. It has become apparent in the first half of the 2020/21 campaign that Runarsson is not of the calibre required to be the club’s second-choice goalkeeper.
The club’s third-choice goalkeeper, Matt Macey, has signed for Scottish side Hibernian on a permanent deal and this leaves the Gunners without a recognised player in this position. Arteta has confirmed that the goalkeeper situation worked out differently than he had believed it would in the summer due to the departure of Martinez. He and the club agreed to assess the situation in the January transfer window and that is what they are doing. He said:
“We are assessing what is going to happen with the three positions, the discussion we had in the summer within the club are a little bit different to what actually happened because of the transfer window and the situation that developed with Emi. We didn’t have much time to do what we really wanted to do and we decided to assess the situation in this window which is what we are trying to do and we will make a decision on how we want to move forward in those three positions.”
Runarsson has been linked with a loan move this month but Arteta said there is nothing to discuss on that front at this given point in time. He said:
“There is nothing there yet.”
The North London club have been linked with a number of goalkeepers including Brentford’s David Raya and it is thought that the Gunners are interested in signing a shot-stopper to compete with Bernd Leno. Arteta seemed to confirm this in his pre-match press conference ahead of his side’s Premier League game against Crystal Palace. He said:
“We are assessing the situation with the three positions on the goalkeeping area and we will find a different solution, probably in this window.”
