Mikel Arteta believes the competitiveness of this summer’s transfer window is unlike anything he’s been through before, but he still hopes Arsenal can bring in a winger to replace Nicolas Pepe before Thursday’s deadline.
Premier League spending topped £1.5 billion on Thursday, eclipsing the single-window record of £1.43 billion from 2017, with several clubs including Chelsea and Manchester United expected to add more additions to their squads in the coming days.
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Arsenal have already spent around £120m in the window, and after confirming Pepe’s full-season move to Nice on Thursday, they are looking to make at least another addition with Wolverhampton’s Pedro Neto, although the two teams remain at some point. away in their ratings.
“If you look at the players coming in, the amount spent, the level teams already have and what they’re adding, it’s something I haven’t seen in this league,” Arteta said on Friday.
“I have seen [on Thursday] A few transfers that have happened and what’s going to happen in the last week or so I think it’s going to be very strong.
“The record in terms of performance that the leagues gave last year is the highest ever. When you look at the points you need to achieve certain things, it has never happened before. He has raised the bar a lot for every team in this league and you can really see that in these games. The first few surprises and results.”
Pepe started just five games last season and has generally been disappointed since becoming the club’s record signing in a £72m transfer from Lille in 2019.
“He needed minutes, he longed for minutes and he talks to me a lot about it, I couldn’t vouch for it now, what he was looking for,” Arteta said.
“At some point, if you extend that period for too long, frustration will arise and the level of performance will not be what we want and we have decided to [a loan] It was the best thing to do for all parties.”
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Asked if that meant an alternative was possible, Arteta added: “If we can implement the plan that we have, we will try to do so. [it].
“In that plan, this [Pepe leaving] It was something that could happen. Now it is a reality and we have been preparing for the past two months in order to achieve what we want. Whether that is possible or not, we’ll see.
“At the beginning of the window we signed two players before taking out other players, and now we did something different. We let one player go and maybe [we’ll] You are able to recruit someone, but this is not a guarantee because the players are still not here.
“What I guarantee is the day the window closes, for me this is the best team in the world and I will try to get the best of them, that’s it.”
