Arteta also determined to keep Granit Xhaka at Arsenal, despite links with Hertha Berlin
Friday 3 January 2020 19:07, UK
Arsenal head coach Mikel Arteta says he is not even considering the possibility of selling the club's top goalscorer Pierre Emerick-Aubameyang in January.
Newspaper reports from Spain claim Real Madrid will make a player-plus-cash offer for the Gabon international worth up to £70m.
When asked about the chance of a January sale, Arteta said: "I don't even think about that possibility with Auba, I want him here."
Arteta revealed after Arsenal's 2-0 win over Manchester United that he believed Granit Xhaka would stay at Arsenal beyond the January window despite it being understood that he had agreed terms with Bundesliga side Hertha Berlin at the end of 2019.
Arteta says he and the rest of his squad offered the Swiss midfielder support because they need him in the team.
"I had a conversation with him and I wanted to understand his feelings. I wanted to know why he thought this may not be the right place for him to continue his career," he explained.
"I gave him my opinion, my perspective and told him that I was ready to support him from the club perspective. I wanted his team-mates to have his back and change his mind, because we need him.
"I believe if we were able to do that then the fans would respond in a positive way. He can be a very important player for the club.
"I want him. I said to the club 'no' and I said to him 'no', after I cannot control what will happen."
Arsenal were not planning on making any major additions to the squad in January but Arteta says the recent injury to centre-back Calum Chambers has changed their approach.
"We are going to be in the market to see options that can strengthen the team. That is our obligation and we are going to be working on that. I will give my opinion on things we can improve," he said.
"The bad injury for Calum (Chambers) a few days ago, that is going to change our plans at the back. The reality of the moment is that we are not going to do much. I am more concerned about getting people back from injury than signings.
"I want to improve the players that I have here. If something extra comes up in January to improve what we have... let's do it."
The Spaniard says, while he still sees plenty of room for improvement, his side's first-half performance in their 2-0 win over United on New Year's Day is the bare minimum he now expects from his players.
"I hope so, that this is the least we have to expect from the team. There are many areas that I would like to improve for sure. In the short time we have been together to see such a change is encouraging for me. I'm happy with that.
"We went through the game and we suffered but I think all the teams in the Premier League at the moment are in the same position. We went through it, we suffered together and now we have a few days to recover."
Sky Sports will bring you the very latest news from the January transfer market with the return of three shows.
Start your day with Good Morning Transfers at 9am as our team of reporters bring you the latest news and insight. Transfer Talk then follows at midday delivering analysis of the biggest stories. Then join us at 7pm for the definitive round-up of the day's news with The Transfer Show.
Meanwhile, the Transfer Talk podcast will also be back at the turn of the year with more expert analysis from here and across the continent.
And as well as tuning into Sky Sports News, don't miss a thing with our dedicated Transfer Centre blog.
