The prolonged summer transfer window only closed for business earlier this month but already attention is turning towards the January transfer window opening.
The Mikel Arteta revolution saw the likes of Thomas Partey, Gabriel Magalhaes and Willian added to the Gunners’ ranks but there is still work to be done to renovate the squad.
January is likely to see further arrivals at the Emirates Stadium as they hope to continue the momentum generated in recent months.
There are also peripheral figures at the club who were not moved on in the summer window, and the possibility of their exits will once again arise this time round.
With that in mind, here are the very latest Gunners transfer rumours.
Aouar remains prime target
Lyon midfielder Houssem Aouar remains a prime transfer target for Arsenal despite missing out on a deal for him in the summer transfer window.
It is reported that the club are yet to discontinue their attempts to land the France international.
Aouar was instrumental in Lyon’s stunning run to last season’s Champions League semi-finals and there is said to be hope that the Ligue 1 club will be more willing to come to the negotiating table in future windows.
The Gunners signed Partey from Atletico Madrid but are still hoping to add a new central midfielder in the coming windows.
Coutinho was “really close” to Arsenal
There were strong rumours this summer that Arsenal were among the clubs attempting to sign Philippe Coutinho and those reports appear to have been verified.
The former Liverpool player was on a season-long loan at Bayern Munich but returned to Barcelona this summer, where it was widely expected he would be sold.
Italian transfer specialist Fabrizio Romano has now said that the Gunners were at one point “really close” to signing the playmaker and were ahead of Tottenham in the race.
Romano told the Blood Red podcast, as per the Liverpool Echo: "Before, Barca were considering to sell Philippe Coutinho and he was on the list to sell, so his agents were working to offer him to Tottenham, to Arsenal.
"Arsenal were really close and at the start of August, they were ready. But once Koeman arrived, he understood it was difficult to sign other players, for example Memphis Depay.”
Arteta responds to Ozil agent
The agent of Mesut Ozil criticised Arteta earlier this week when discussing how his client’s situation had been handled by the Arsenal boss.
Dr. Erkut Sogut then gave an interview to ESPN where he criticised the manner in which Arteta dealt with the situation.
Now Arteta has responded to these allegations and insisted he dealt with the situation in the right way.
“If you have to lead, they have to trust you," Arteta told reporters ahead of the Leicester City game, as per the Mirror.
"In order for them to trust you, you have to be honest. You have to be clear and you have to be able to tell people, face to face, the good and bad news.
“Then you have to be consistent in what you say, the demands you put in and what you apply.
“When things happen, you applaud them and then when they don’t, there are consequences. Then you create a culture and within that culture people have to be accountable.
“People have to step up and they have to demand the standards we need of each other from this football club in order to be successful.”
