Mikel Arteta Reaffirms Need for Arsenal Board to Back Him in Transfer Window

Mikel Arteta has again called on Arsenal's hierarchy to back him financially in the summer transfer window, or be prepared for another season without Champions League football.

The Spaniard has already brought in players since joining the club, with Pablo Mari and Cedric Soares signing permanently having initially joined on loan deals in January.

Neither player falls into the category of a marquee signing, though, and Arteta has insisted that he must be provided with the financial means to bolster his squad if he is to stand any chance of turning around the Gunners' fortunes.

“If you are not in the Champions League and you say: ‘OK, I don’t invest because I don’t have the financial ability to do it,’ but the other clubs invest, then the gap becomes bigger," he stated in his pre-match press conference ahead of Thursday's clash with Liverpool.

"If I do want to invest and risk, and then I don’t reach it, what happens? So at some stage you have to make a decision: whether I want to aim to make that gap closer and go for it, or I stay where I am.

"At the end of the season we need to sit down and agree on the ambitions of the club, what direction we want to take and put a plan together to achieve those targets."

Facing the inevitable prospect of a fourth year without Champions League football next season, Arsenal are also in danger of missing out on European football entirely. Nevertheless, Arteta insisted that the club are still an attractive proposition to other players.

He insisted: "When I speak to people in the market, a lot of players want to play for Arsenal.
Why? Because we have an incredible history, an incredible structure, we’re in a beautiful city and have a style of play that attracts players.”

Thursday's Premier League opponents are one of the sides Arteta is looking to emulate, with the rookie boss going on to praise the 'phenomenal' work Liverpool have put in under Jurgen Klopp to reach the level they're at.

"What they have done is phenomenal. It took them some time to rebuild the squad with a new culture, philosophy and game model but they were really smart in the way they recruited," he concluded. “The moment Liverpool addressed the spine of their team, things changed dramatically.

“You get one of the best defenders in the world with the best goalkeeper and one of the best holding midfielders and it’s a quick fix. The same thing happened straight away at Manchester City when they signed Aymeric Laporte.”

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