The Gunners’ decision to not sign a new player in January is under the spotlight again after allowing four players, including Aubameyang, to leave for free.
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has defended the club’s gamble to not sign new players in the January transfer window.
The London club raised eyebrows in the winter by allowing Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Calum Chambers, Sead Kolasinac, and Dejan Iliev to leave on free transfers without signing any replacements.
Ainsley Maitland-Niles and Pablo Mari also left on loan deals to Italian sides Roma and Udinese respectively.
The gamble appeared to pay off until the last week; which has seen Arsenal surrender a four-point advantage in the top-four race. They’re now two points behind fourth-placed Tottenham in the Premier League table, with only one game left.
Does Arteta have any regrets?
Perhaps the biggest blow came on Tuesday when Bruno Guimaraes, a player Arsenal were linked with in January, scored Newcastle’s second goal of the game to condemn the Gunners to a 2-0 defeat.
“We have done what we can, and with what we were allowed to do, what we could do and the resources we had from the start of the season,” Arteta said in his post-match press conference when asked if he regretted not buying players in January.
“The team that we were able to build is what we were able to build, and it’s the team that has taken us all the way here.”
As for the team’s performance at St. James’ Park, Arteta pulled no punches in his assessment.
“Newcastle were one hundred times better than us in every department from the beginning to the end and it’s hard to accept to accept,” the Arsenal manager added.
“But you have to accept it and that’s the reality of what happened today on that pitch.
“We knew [what was at stake], but we didn’t cope with it. We didn’t compete, we never got into the game, we put ourselves in trouble time after time, we lost every duel. Every aspect of the game we were second best and Newcastle totally deserved to win the match, probably by a bigger margin as well.”
Arsenal next play Everton at the Emirates on Sunday for their final game of the season. The Londoners must beat the Blues and hope Tottenham lose to the relegated Norwich to nail a top-four finish.
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