Afternoon all.

Speculation is rife about Mo Elneny suffering and injury which could see him miss the rest of the season. I hope that’s not the case because with his contract expiring in the summer, it could mean we’ll not see him play for the club again. There might be an element of truth to the story though as during his press conference yesterday whilst talking about Elneny’s injury, Arteta said:

There are concerns. Mo is a player who never complains about anything but let’s see. We need some more cover in midfield, ideally, if we can. But this market is complicated. But as I always say, the most important thing is we get the performances and the time on the pitch with the players we already have on the pitch are really good.

If there’s no Mo Elneny, we’re down to Sambi Lokonga as the only cover for Thomas Partey and without being disrespectful to the Belgian, we’re not winning the Premier League or Europa League Cup with him in the team. Not in my opinion. We might have luck on our side and get through the next four and a half months with Tomas Partey steering clear of injury but it’s a gamble. A big gamble. It’s a bit of a déjà vu really because back in the summer Arsenal tried to sign a midfielder because Mo Elneny suffered injury, or so said the newspapers, and here we are again in the same position.

I suppose Arsenal have three options now, take a gamble and stick with the squad as it is now or sign a central midfielder on loan or permanently. Much has been written in the newspapers about Declan Rice being Arsenal’s priority signing and that the player really wants to come to the club, which if true, means a big money signing in the next week is probably unlikely. Would West Ham sell the player now? The money would certainly help David Moyes boost his squad in numbers but I can’t see West Ham letting one of their top players leave when they’re already struggling this season. A loan deal is possible but who, goodness only knows.

Weston McKennie and Moises Caicedo are the names being tossed around on NN but one will need a £100 million offer according to his manager, the other though, is a fifth of the price. This transfer window has been very good but if Arsenal were to sign Declan Rice, Moises Caicedo, or someone who can do what they’ve been doing for their respective clubs this season, even I’d start to believe we could win the league….

Anyway, let’s see what the next six days has in store for Arsenal in this transfer window.

See you in the comments.