Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has confirmed that the club remains active in the transfer market, seeking to further strengthen the squad following the recent £75 million acquisition of midfielder Bruno Guimaraes from Newcastle.
The Gunners unveiled Guimaraes to their home fans on Sunday, with the Brazilian walking onto the pitch ahead of their pre-season 2-3 defeat to Borussia Dortmund. Guimaraes' arrival marks the third new signing for Arsenal this summer, following Illan Meslier and Christos Tzolis. Additionally, Piero Hincapie's move has been made permanent.
Despite these additions, Arsenal is still looking to bolster its attack and aims to bring in a versatile defender, particularly given the current unavailability of Jurrien Timber and William Saliba. When asked if supporters could anticipate more signings before the summer transfer window closes, Arteta stated, "Well that's what we're trying to do. If we have the right player in the market to make us much better, we are very looking forward to that."
Arteta also addressed recent defensive performances, which saw Arsenal concede three goals against Dortmund and an equal number against Real Betis in Dublin. However, he insisted that these results have not intensified the club's desire to specifically strengthen at the back. "I wouldn't go there just to put it isolated there," Arteta commented. "We conceded some poor goals the other day, some poor goals today. In the way we competed, especially. But that's a very collective responsibility. So we need to improve with the players that we have. And we want to improve for sure."
Guimaraes has already begun training with his new teammates, though the match against Dortmund was deemed too soon for his involvement. The midfielder is expected to be available for Arsenal's fixture against Como on Wednesday night, before the team prepares for this weekend's Community Shield clash against Manchester City.
Arteta expressed his delight at securing Guimaraes after a prolonged transfer saga, noting the Brazilian's immediate positive impact in training. "We see very clearly, especially the energy that he brought immediately to the training ground, the hunger, the desire to come here and create a big history at the club," Arteta said. He added, "That's the ambition that we need. We want to go to the next level and I'm very, very much convinced that we're going to need players with such a personality, desire and character to push everybody inside the organisation to go even higher."
The manager further praised Guimaraes' attributes, highlighting his "versatility to play in two different positions in relation to what we want or the opponent does. A player who obviously has tremendous timing and intuition to win the ball back and progress play very, very fast. He's a player that is very comfortable putting people through, moving between the lines, moving in behind. And then he's a goal threat. He's got a smell and a really good timing to get in the box. And he has the capacity to finish the actions."
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