Mikel Arteta has refused to confirm or deny whether Arsenal have made an offer for Shakhtar Donetsk centre-back Mykola Matviyenko.
It's no secret that the Gunners are on the lookout for defensive reinforcements this month following an season-ending injury to Calum Chambers in the 2-1 loss against Chelsea three weeks ago.
Many names have been linked with a move to the Emirates Stadium during the January transfer window, but as of yet Arteta still has not made his first signing as head coach.
Although recent reports suggest he is close to bolstering his squad.
Zbirna claim the north London outfit have offered £4.5m to sign Matviyenko on loan for the remainder of the season and the deal would be made permanent in the summer transfer window for £22m.
However, Arteta's main focus was on his side's FA Cup fourth round tie against Bournemouth on Monday night instead of transfer rumours.
"I'm not going to be discussing any transfer links publicly," Arteta said in his pre-match press conference.
"It's something we are trying to do internally and when we have news we will communicate with you guys."
"We are looking at different positions, obviously since I joined we lost Calum [Chambers] and we had other circumstances and injuries in that position so it's true that at the back we have been short.
"There are other positions as well, depending on what happens in the market that we might need to assess."
Then when asked if he's confident of getting business done before deadline day, Arteta insisted he will only dip into the market for quality players.
"At the moment I am 50/50 because this transfer [window] is very complicated and I only want to bring somebody in if I'm convinced he can really improve the level that we have."
Another name being linked to the Gunners is that of Atletico Madrid's Thomas Lemar.
Reports in Spain claim a deal is close.
It's said the fee taking the Frenchman to the Emirates Stadium is in the region of 40m euros which is roughly £33m.
