Arsenal: Arteta says Gunners have to be 'actively looking' at signings in January

"Arsenal have dealt with injuries throughout the campaign, and head into Tuesday's crucial clash with unlikely challengers Aston Villa with several issues on the fitness front. Kai Havertz (knee) remains on the sideline with an injury suffered on the opening day, while Cristhian Mosquera (ankle), Ben White (hamstring) and Max Dowman (ankle) are also out. Riccardo Calafiori (muscle) and Jurrien Timber (knock) are doubts for the Villa game."

""We're going to be really aware of the situation and the timescale of certain players [returning from injury]," Arteta said. "If you go from the front line to the back line, that's the depth that you need. When you look across the other clubs, they have 24 or 25 players, so there's nothing special in our squad.""

""The window is there. We're Arsenal and we have to be looking at it and saying 'OK, what do we need?' We have to be actively looking, and then can we do it or not? That's a different story, but our job is to always be very prepared because something can happen.""

Arsenal are experiencing a run of injuries affecting key and squad players across positions, with several named absentees and doubts ahead of the match against Aston Villa. Multiple first-team players remain sidelined with knee, ankle, hamstring and muscle issues, reducing depth across the pitch. The club faces a need to maintain availability for a title challenge and is comparing squad sizes with rivals. January offers an opportunity to add reinforcements to protect against further setbacks and to respond to an intense schedule and a close title race with Villa on a long winning run.

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