Watkins deal, double winger deal – What Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal XI could’ve looked like after January transfer window links

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Arsenal ended the January transfer window without making a signing as they keep the faith with the same squad that began the season.

Mikel Arteta was desperate for attacking reinforcements due to the injuries to Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Jesus having surgery on an acl injury.

Arsenal had a bid rejected for Aston Villa striker Ollie Watkins in the final few days of the window and Arsenal made contact for Mathys Tel before the French forward eventually joined Tottenham Hotspur.

The Gunners were clear in their stance that they would only add players to their squad that could raise the quality of the team but their squad is certainly lighter than before the window.

Many players were linked with Arsenal and after Josh Kroenke’s visit to the Dinamo Zagreb game, there was optimism some business would be done.

READ MORE: Newcastle handed injury blow before Arsenal clash as Aston Villa respond to Ollie Watkins transfer claim

What Arsenal’s starting eleven could have looked like after the January transfer window

There were no major departures from the club either during the transfer window, Borussia Dortmund were interested in Oleksandr Zinchenko and Kieran Tierney has signed a pre-agreement with Celtic but will stay with the Gunners for the remainder of this season.

Arsenal’s interest in the window was mainly in attacking areas. Martin Zubimendi is set to join Arsenal in the summer but the club couldn’t agree a January deal for the midfielder.

Here is how Arteta could have lined Arsenal up for the remainder of the season if their transfer business had gone their way.

At the beginning of the window, Arsenal were linked with Brentford’s Bryan Mbeumo however, any departure was ruled out by his manager Thomas Frank.

A potential fresh front three and a world-class midfielder has slipped by for the Gunners, who now have to wait until the summer window to improve their squad.

Arsenal now relying on Kai Havertz to stay fit for the rest of the season

Arsenal were linked with other strikers aside from Watkins, Dusan Vlahovic and Benjamin Sesko were among the strongest links as it was clear the Gunners were light in the position.

Their failure to strengthen means that Kai Havertz is now the only recognised available striker in the squad and has already appeared 33 times this season across all competitions.

The German has scored 15 goals already this season but has also missed a number of high-profile chances leading fans to question whether he is the right man to fire the Gunners to a trophy.

That question will soon be answered as Havertz is set to be Arsenal’s main front man for the rest of the season, Arteta will be hoping that German’s incredible durability continues.