"I’m not surprised if we are going to do something” - Declan Rice responds when asked if Arsenal might look to sign players in January

Arsenal star Declan Rice has opened up on whether the Gunners could be active in the market during the remainder of the transfer window. We are approaching the final week of the winter transfer window and Mikel Arteta's side have been heavily linked with a host of players.

Arsenal have made a statement signing this month in the form of coveted midfielder Martin Zubimendi from Real Sociedad. However, the European Championship-winning Spain international will only join the Gunners in the summer.

However, the north London giants currently have their options really stretched with plenty of injury problems. At the moment, they are missing six players with various injuries, including attackers like Gabriel Jesus and Bukayo Saka.

Now, Declan Rice has admitted that the club are somewhat in need of additions to the squad in January. The former West Ham United star said, as quoted by Tribal Football:

“I think now where we’ve lost Gabi (Gabriel Jesus), he’s probably going to be out for a year with an ACL, that’s really tough."

Rice added:

“I’m sure the manager is probably going to look for something, because tonight we’ve had to bring Tierney on left wing, we’ve had to bring Zin (Oleksandr Zinchenko) in on left wing so we’re a bit short up there. I’m not surprised if we are going to do something.”

Arsenal find themselves second in the Premier League table with 44 points in 22 games. They trail league leaders Liverpool by six points with the Reds also having a game in hand.

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Owen Hargreaves defends Arsenal player who he believes gets criticized a lot: Reports

Pundit Owen Hargreaves has claimed that Arsenal star Kai Havertz gets criticized way too much. Havertz scored in the Gunners' 3-0 win against Dinamo Zagreb on Thursday, January 23 to propel the Gunners to third place in the Champions League table.

Declan Rice opened the scoring for Mikel Arteta's side early before Havertz doubled the lead in the 66th minute. Skipper Martin Odegaard made the scoreline 3-0 in favor of the London giants.

Following the game, former Bayern Munich and Manchester United midfielder Owen Hargreaves defended Kai Havertz. He said on TNT Sports, as quoted by Metro:

"Everybody goes on about Kai being a centre forward. I love him, I know he’s not a striker but he gives you so much. He has great awareness, he’s so patient. He’s got great awareness, he’s got great size, you can play off him as a 10, he can set people up."

The former England international added:

"I think he gives you so much. I know he’s not Osimhen or Harry Kane but actually he shouldn’t be your main striker but he is a brilliant option. He can play on the right, he can play at 10 or play as a false nine and I think he does it brilliantly and I think he gets far too much criticism."

Kai Havertz has always been a player who has divided opinions ever since he moved to the Premier League with Chelsea. He joined Arsenal for a reported £65 million fee in 2023 but is yet to win over his critics. The 25-year-old has scored 14 goals in 30 games across competitions this season while setting up four for his teammates.