Mikel Arteta’s January Transfer Plans After Calum Chambers Goes Down

Mikel Arteta will be pressed to make a few tough decisions this Jauary transfer window.

Arsenal fell to a 1-2 defeat to Chelsea last night but one of their other biggest losses was Calum Chambers to injury.

The Englishman limped off the pitch after suffering a knock on the knee early on. He looked in a lot of pain and could be out for a significant period of time. That leaves Arteta with just David Luiz and Shkodran Mustafi as senior options at centre-back. Sokratis Papastathopoulos is nursing a concussion and Rob Holding his ankle.

The only other centre-back in the side is Konstantinos Mavropanos but the 21-year-old is relatively inexperienced. Arteta might be forced to dive into the transfer market after only being in charge of the club for 9 days.

“We will discuss in the next few days, internally, where we can improve the squad,” Arteta told talkSPORT. “Because at the moment we have a lot of injuries like I said. Some of them might be long term as well, so we have to adapt the plan.”

About Chambers, the Spaniard added, “I spoke with the doctor and it was not very encouraging. We will have to see the scan and what it shows. But he was in pain.”

“He’s come a long way. I know him very well because we played together and shared the dressing room here I always liked him with the attitude desire and his willingness to learn, I think he’s come a long way. He seems excited, that’s what I am feeling.”