London: Following an injury crisis at the football club, Arsenal, who are lying in seventh spot in the English Premier League (EPL) standings, will try to bring in Celtic defender Virgin van Dijk in the January transfer window.
Arsenal have set aside 20 million pounds for new players and at Thursday's Annual General Meeting (AGM), it was made clear that manager Arsene Wenger will be granted autonomy to spend that money, reports The Daily Telegraph.
"Let's not be in a muddle about who calls the shots about football at Arsenal. It is not the fans, it is not the chairman, it is Arsene Wenger. If he has a plan, we back him. If he doesn't have a plan, we keep quiet," Arsenal chairman Chips Keswick said at the AGM.
Injuries to Mathieu Debuchy and Laurent Koscielny, as well as a suspension for Calum Chambers, will force Arsenal to start against Hull City Saturday with Nacho Monreal at centre-back for the first time in a competitive game.
Hector Bellerin, a 19-year-old who has never started a Premier League game, or Francis Coquelin, usually a midfielder, is likely to play at right-back.
"We could have bought one more player but we didn't find. We will try in January to rectify that because we are a bit short because of the injuries we had. I think we will rectify that in the transfer market in January," Wenger said.
"We had big injuries and coincidental injuries. There are a lot of post-World Cup injuries and not many soft-tissue injuries."
Theo Walcott and Serge Gnabry are now both in full training but will not play against Hull although Mikel Arteta is back in the squad.
Aaron Ramsey will begin full training Monday and should be available to face Anderlecht in the Champions League Wednesday.
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