Arsenal looking to sign goalkeeper in January as Arteta waits on Ozil news

Arsenal are looking to sign a new goalkeeper in the transfer window, Mikel Arteta has confirmed.

Having sold Emiliano Martinez to Aston Villa in September in a reported £20million deal, the Gunners have gone through the season with Bernd Leno and Alex Runarsson, signed from Dijon last year, as their senior keepers.

Runarsson has made four appearances in the Europa League and just one in domestic competition, in the EFL Cup against Manchester City, when he made two mistakes in a 4-1 defeat at Emirates Stadium in December.

The Iceland international could be allowed to leave on loan this month as Arteta explores options to bolster the position, with third-choice Matt Macey having now joined Hibernian.

“We are assessing the situation with the three positions on the goalkeeping area and we will find a different solution, probably in this window,” Arteta said on Monday.

“We are assessing what is going to happen with the three positions, the discussions we had in the summer within the club are a little bit different to what actually happened because of the transfer window and the situation that developed with Emi.

“We didn’t have much time to do what we really wanted to do and we decided to assess the situation in this window, which is what we are trying to do and we will make a decision on how we want to move forward in those three positions.”

World-class.

 @Bernd_Leno  pic.twitter.com/zrVn2G1svW

— Arsenal (@Arsenal) January 10, 2021

Arteta is still waiting for news on the future of Mesut Ozil, who is expected to leave the Gunners this month, with Fenerbahce and MLS side DC United most heavily linked.

“My understanding is that nothing has changed from the last press conference,” he said. “[Technical director] Edu and the club are having some conversations about the near future and the long-term future and when we know something, we will announce it.

“It’s always difficult to handle this situation when you are left out of the squad. It’s been difficult for everybody to have players who weren’t in the squad – it wasn’t only him – because you need them motivated, training well and being part of what we are trying to do and they don’t feel like they can contribute to that. It’s always tricky. We have tried to manage that in the best possible way.”

Arteta, who was not willing to discuss rumours linking the club with Diego Costa and Emiliano Buendia, hopes to have Thomas Partey fully fit for Thursday’s Premier League clash with Crystal Palace.

The Gunners boss is awaiting further updates on Gabriel Martinelli, who had a scan on an ankle problem on Monday.

“We don’t know how bad he is,” he said of the striker. “He’s getting a scan this morning. We didn’t look after the game [a 2-0 win over Newcastle United in the FA Cup] because he was in a lot of pain but yesterday he tested it a little bit better, so let’s hope. We have a scan today so let’s hope it’s not as serious and we can have Gabi back really soon.”