Mikel Arteta reveals if Man City’s £85m transfer spree impacts Arsenal’s plans

Mikel Arteta says he was not surprised to see Manchester City spending heavily in the January transfer window once again, insisting their business will not force Arsenal’s hand.

City spent close to £180million alone in January last year and have made the two biggest signings of the window this month in bringing in Antoine Semenyo and Marc Guehi.

They saw off interest from Manchester United to sign Semenyo from Bournemouth with a £65million release active this month.

With major defensive problems forcing their hand somewhat, City then swooped to sign Guehi from Crystal Palace for an initial £20m with the England star entering the final six months of his contract in south east London.

Arsenal were among Guehi’s admirers while they were also among the clubs credited with interest in Semenyo last summer.

The pair cost City £85m with Arteta trusting the squad he assembled last summer, with their only major business to date Ethan Nwaneri’s loan switch to Marseille.

With the gap between them just four points at the time of writing, City will hope their January business will be the difference come May.

‘That is their business,’ Arteta said of City’s two new additions.

‘I know what they’re going to do and what they’ve been doing over the last 10-15 years. So obviously not surprised. They want to win and they will do everything to win.’

While there is already talk of a move for Julian Alvarez building towards the summer transfer window, a quiet window for Arsenal is very unlikely to change in the final days.

Despite both City and Aston Villa, who have signed Tammy Abraham and Douglas Luis on loan, making key additions, it will not prompt a late flurry of business in north London.

Asked if activity elsewhere has Arsenal looking at things differently at the last few days of the January window, Arteta said: ‘Not because of them, because if we have any issues, we need to be on top of that. But that’s not a surprise. 

‘They did it as well last year, very aggressively when it was needed. We have our ambitions, but we also have our own restrictions. 

‘We need to know what we have to do, what we can do and what we believe is the right thing to do.’