Time is running out for Arsenal, Mikel Arteta, and Edu.
Arsenal and their fellow Premier League counterparts now have less than two weeks to conclude their January transfer business, after the window closes they'll have to wait until the summer.
The window will close at 11pm on Monday February 1 - meaning the clock is ticking to get those all-important deals over the line.
For the Gunners, the focus so far has been on trimming the first-team squad and that task has proven to be successful with as many as four players leaving the club already.
Very shortly, Mesut Ozil will join the list of departures that includes Sokratis, Sead Kolasinac and William Saliba - with the latter pair sealing loan moves to Schalke and Nice respectively at the beginning of the month.
Now, Arteta has admitted that his focus is now on trying to find players to bolster his squad.
"We are on that process right now," he said when asked if Arsenal are looking to sign anyone before the window is over. "We’ve done the first part more or less and we are focusing now on the second phase.
"Obviously, this market and the context makes it really difficult, but we are looking at options and we will see what we can do."
"We are looking at various positions.
"The movement that we made in this transfer window with some players leaving the club leaves us a little bit short in certain areas. So if we can we will do it."
One of the players being linked with a move to the Emirates Stadium is Real Madrid playmaker Martin Odegaard.
Sport claim the Norway international is said to be 'very close' to a move to Arsenal with manager Arteta keen on the midfielder who could be the creative spark the first-team squad needs.
The 22-year-old has come in for praise from an array of big-name stars in football in the past, including Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola, who, of course, has worked closely alongside Arteta in the past.
As per AS, former Norway international and current journalist Jan Age Fjortoft has revealed that when Guardiola was at Bayern Munich he wanted to sign Odegaard as he was under the impression he could turn him into the world’s best player.
For Guardiola to have delivered such a glowing verdict speaks volumes about Odegaard and perhaps explains why Arteta is keen to add him to the Gunners' squad - even if it's just for a few months.
