Wenger: Arsenal don´t need Payet

19 January 2017 11:11

Arsenal do not need to sign Dimitri Payet and are unlikely to make any major moves in the remaining days of the transfer window, manager Arsene Wenger has said.

The France international has refused to play as he attempts to engineer a departure from West Ham, with former club Marseille the favourites to sign him this month.

Wenger has plenty of admiration for the player but insists that, with Danny Welbeck returning from injury, Arsenal have no real need for reinforcements in attack before the window closes.

“I expect it to be a very quiet period because we have Welbeck coming back now. We are very strong, we have many players [in the squad] who can come in,” he said ahead of Sunday’s Premier League clash with Burnley.

“Overall I don’t expect to do anything special.

“I don’t need Payet because we have so many creative players. I rate Payet, of course, but it’s not an area where we’re looking for something.

“We have many players who can play in this position. You’re interested in the quality of the player, but there has to be a need as well.”

While the chances of players coming to Emirates Stadium are slim, Wenger did confirm that full-back Carl Jenkinson could complete a move to Crystal Palace if he agrees personal terms with Sam Allardyce’s side.

“It’s a possibility, yes, but it’s not finalised,” he said. “It’s basically down to him now to find an agreement with them.”

Wenger says Jenkinson’s impending exit is unlikely to see Mathieu Debuchy return to the first-team fold, adding: “Not really because recently we’ve played Gabriel and I’m very happy with Gabriel in this position.”

The 67-year-old also confirmed the Gunners have taken up the option to extend captain Per Mertesacker’s contract by another year and that the centre-back is likely to return to action next month following a knee injury.

“It’s an option we’ve taken on Per Mertesacker. He’s back in training, not with the squad, but he’s maybe two weeks away now,” he added.

“We have a number of games and it’s important to have our experienced players back. We’re in the moment of truth now. We have five months to go and we need all our experienced players back in the squad.”