Arsenal head coach Jonas Eidevall says that the January transfer window will be a very important period for the club.
The Gunners will fight for four different trophies during the second half of the season and squad depth will be hugely important to their hopes of winning silverware.
Arsenal have lost the services of two key players in Beth Mead and Vivianne Miedema for the remainder of the season through long-term injury. Head coach Eidevall says that those injuries will have an impact on what business the club looks to do in the upcoming transfer window.
“A little bit, it does, it makes the need for us to be more active in the January transfer window,” Eidevall said when discussing the impact of Mead and Miedema’s injuries on his transfer plans. “Of course it does, I hope we can be active.
“It is about finding the right players but we have to take into consideration that we have played 17 games before Christmas and if we succeed in all of the competitions, I think we can end up playing 26 matches from January to May.
“Of course, we need a squad that can handle playing 26 matches in a pretty limited amount of time so it is an important transfer window for us.”
Going on to compare short and long-term recruitment plans, Eidevall said that additions for the long-term are always a priority but he may need to be more flexible when unplanned injuries like the ones sustained by Mead and Miedema occur.
He said “I think when you are looking at things in the shorter term, sometimes you have to see what’s also available and the timing of that. Sometimes I have to adapt my ideas as well but of course, whenever we have a long-term target and we feel that someone can contribute for many seasons for Arsenal, that is a priority.
“The most important thing is that we have a really competitive squad in January so we can go and compete in all of the competitions that we take part in.”
Arsenal end the calendar year with a UEFA Women’s Champions League group stage match against FC Zürich in Schaffhausen on Wednesday evening.
About The Author
