Arsenal can still do four deals in next 24 hours despite transfer window closing | Football | Sport

Arsenal could still sanction a number of potential transfers despite the window closing on Monday night. The north Londoners had a quiet month, with no senior signings being made in the winter market. They went into deadline day searching for a new midfielder but were unable to land one before the end of the window.

With the window now closed, Arsenal will have to delve into the free agent pool if they still want to add emergency cover in the middle of the park.

Unfortunately, their options are rather limited with quality at a premium in the current group of unattached players. Jesse Lingard and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain are perhaps the highest-profile midfielders who remain without a club.

Both players have no shortage of Premier League experience and Oxlade-Chamberlain has been training with the Gunners this season to gain match fitness.

However, they are both on the wrong side of 30 and have left their best days firmly behind them. They could provide cover for Merino until the end of the campaign, but probably aren’t good enough to make a meaningful contribution to Arsenal’s title hopes.

Interestingly, Mikel Arteta refused to rule out signing Oxlade-Chamberlain on a short-term deal when quizzed on Arsenal’s search for a midfielder on deadline day, saying: “We explore every option.”

“When you lose a big player like this in the squad with four months to go and all the competitions to play for, you need to look, and we need to do everything that we possibly can do to see if we have a player that is available. And if we don’t, we keep what we have.”

In terms of exits, the Premier League leaders could sanction loan moves for a couple of young players to leagues where the transfer window is still open.

Some of their academy graduates who have been sniffing around the first team, such as Andre Harriman-Annous and Charles Sagoe Jr, could benefit from gaining valuable experience in senior football ahead of the 2026/27 season.

The window in Turkey will remain open until Friday, giving Arsenal the opportunity to loan them to big clubs like Galatasaray, Besiktas and Fenerbahce.

However, the Gunners may well believe the best course of action is for them to stay in the under-21 ranks for the time being. There is also no guarantee that clubs in Turkey would be willing to sign players with such little experience in the senior game.