Mikel Arteta and Edu have been handed a major blow regarding Arsenal's January transfer plans.
In the summer transfer window, the Gunners spent big on Thomas Partey and Gabriel Magalhaes, signing the pair for considerable fees from Atletico Madrid and Lille respectively.
Meanwhile, Willian arrived on a free transfer from London rivals Chelsea, Dani Ceballos returned for another season-long spell and Alex Runarsson was signed as a replacement for Emiliano Martinez who joined Aston Villa.
However, Edu, the club's technical director, has recently admitted that Arsenal 's squad is still short in one key department.
At the Arsenal fans' forum earlier in the month, the Brazilian answered questions from supporters, with one focusing on the club's plans for the January transfer window.
"It’s quite clear what we need," Edu said. "We need a player with creativity in the middle, we don’t have that in the squad right now."
Arsenal's need for a creative midfielder won't come as a surprise to many, and Arteta has already stated that it's an area of his squad that he wants to address.
As a result, the Gunners have been linked with moves for the likes of Houssem Aouar, Isco, Julian Brandt, Christian Eriksen, and Emi Buendia - just to name a few - in an attempt to fill the void.
Another name tipped to join Arsenal is that of Barcelona youngster Riqui Puig.
However, the La Liga giants have made a transfer decision that is bad news for the north London outfit.
According to Di Marzio, Barcelona have no intention to allow the midfielder to depart the Camp Nou next month.
"As of today, Barça does NOT contemplate a loan from Riqui Puig in this January market," a translation of the tweet reads.
Following the Gunners' win over Brighton & Hove Albion on Tuesday evening, Arteta was quizzed on his side's transfer plans.
And Spaniard refused to be drawn on specific names.
"Obviously we cannot talk about individual players," said Arteta.
