Arsene Wenger Reveals Arsenal Are Not Close to Any Signing in January

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has revealed that the Gunners are not close to making any signings in January as the ongoing transfer window shuts at 11pm GMT on Friday.

The north London side have not added any new face to the squad this month. The Emirates club are without the services of first choice players as Theo Walcott is ruled out for the rest of the season while Aaron Ramsey has joined Yaya Sanogo and Abou Diaby on the treatment table.

In addition to this, Jack Wilshere is still struggling with an ankle injury while Mathieu Flamini will miss Arsenal's next three fixtures against Crystal Palace, Liverpool and Manchester United. The midfielder was shown a red card during their 2-2 draw against Southampton.

The Gunners currently have Olivier Giroud as the first choice striker. The former Arsenal forward Paul Mariner has urged Wenger to bring in a top-class striker in January to keep his side's hope of winning the Premier League title alive.

The Frenchman revealed that Arsenal are still active in January, but admitted that his side are still not close to making any new addition in the mid-season transfer window.

"Are we active? Yes," he said. "Are we close to sign anybody? No. There's not long now that's true," Wenger told Arsenal's official website.

"First, the situation was going like always in a transfer market - week by week. In the last two weeks it goes day by day, now it goes hour by hour. In any hour anything can happen or change but at the moment, unfortunately, we are not signing anybody."

The Gunners are keen on signing Schalke Star Julian Draxler. The German international has been heavily linked to talks of joining the Emirates club on the deadline day on Friday. The former Arsenal keeper Jens Lehmann has urged the midfielder to join the north London side while Robert Pires has advised Wenger to sign the talented player.

After Arsenal's latest draw against Southampton, they have lost the top spot to Manchester City as the Citizens registered a 5-1 away win over Tottenham Hotspur. The Gunners are second in the league table with 52 points from 23 games, trailing league leaders City by a point.