How Arteta Changed ‘Unmanageable’ Arsenal Team On Deadline day

Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has moved seven players on since the turn of the year, easing his concerns about a squad whose size he had called “unmanageable”. Arsenal  has continued to trim its squad late in this window as three players were made to move before the close of the transfer window on deadline day. With Joe Willock and Ainsley Maitland-Niles have both left the club on loan for the rest of the season while Shkodran Mustafi has left Arsenal for Schalke on a permanent deal.

Willock has joined Steve Bruce’s Newcastle while, after being a target for a number of clubs, Maitland-Niles has moved into a relegation scrap with Sam Allardyce at West Brom. Maitland-Niles started the day in talks with Southampton, who were keen to add an option to buy into any loan deal before becoming frustrated by talks and requests from the 23-year-old’s representatives. Leicester were also interested but did not take that any further.

Meanwhile, Mustafi’s deal was terminated early, allowing a move to the Bundesliga’s bottom club on a six-month deal. He will replace the new Liverpool signing Ozan Kabak and joins Sead Kolasinac, who signed for Schalke on loan from Arsenal in January. Mustafi made over 150 appearances for Arsenal since joining from Valencia in 2016 but the centre-back’s form fluctuated and he endured a rocky relationship with the home fans. A revival in fortunes saw him feature heavily for Arteta in the second half of last season but a hamstring injury sustained in the FA Cup semi-final led to three months out and he has featured only nine times in 2020-21.

Also, William Saliba signed for Nice on loan while the club terminated Sokratis Papastathopoulos’ contract so he could join Olympiakos. The most high-profile departure was that of Mesut Özil, who signed for Fenerbahce after an agreement was reached to end his Arsenal spell.

Following Maitland-Niles’s move to the Hawthorns, Arteta said: “Ainsley is a very talented player and we are proud of his hard work and development with us. This decision to go on loan to West Brom for the rest of this season is to support Ainsley and his growth further.”

On Willock, the Arsenal manager added: “Joe is a young player with great ability who is progressing very well and we are happy with his continued development. At this moment in his career, Joe needs to be playing regularly.”

Martin Ødegaard and Mat Ryan were the January additions to a streamlined group that contains several fitness doubts for Tuesday’s trip to Wolves. Kieran Tierney is not ready to return from a lower leg injury while Bukayo Saka and Pablo Marí will be assessed. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang trained on Monday after missing three games following his mother becoming ill.