Mikel Arteta finally breaks silence after Chelsea hijacked Joao Felix transfer
Arsenal and Manchester United were believed to be in the bid to sign Atleti’s forward, Joao Felix but Chelsea hijacked the bid and is set to announce the loan transfer deal once the paper works are done.
Consequently, Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has finally revealed the reason why his side was unable to sign the young forward from the Spanish club.
According to Arteta, Arsenal may struggle if they are unable to sign an attacker during the January transfer window.
Arsenal is believed to have been the first to have held discussions with the Portugal international, who has been eager to leave Atletico after struggling under Diego Simeon.
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Chelsea is on the verge of completing a loan move for Felix after agreeing to a £9 million loan deal with Atletico Madrid.
Chelsea will also fully continue to fund Felix’s salary, which is estimated to be around £275,000 per week.
On Monday evening, when asked about Chelsea’s victory in the race to sign Felix from Atletico, Arteta told ITV: “My job is to make those players as good as I can.
“I will try to do that and if we have any reinforcements, great.”
Arsenal had already made the signing of Mykhaylo Mudryk their top priority for the January transfer window, and Ukrainian media outlets reported on Monday evening that the Gunners are close to a deal with Shakhtar Donetsk.
In his press conference following Arsenal’s 3-0 FA Cup third-round victory over Oxford United, Arteta emphasized Arsenal’s lack of options following Gabriel Jesus’ injury.
Arteta stated, “The problem is we have only one [striker]
“And to go for that many months until Gabby is back is not easy.
“But we have to get the most out of the players that we have at the moment and if we can have some reinforcements, great.”
