'Not realistic' - Mikel Arteta suggests Arsenal will not sign new striker in January despite fresh Gabriel Jesus injury leading to more transfer questions

The Gunners are seeing more questions asked of their attacking options following a 2-0 defeat to Liverpool in the FA Cup third round. Arteta saw his side create enough chances in that game to win several matches, but none of them were taken and another route to major silverware in 2023-24 has been shut off.

Gabriel Jesus sat out a home date with Liverpool after picking up another injury, while Eddie Nketiah was only introduced off the bench and German forward Kai Havertz misfired once again. Asked afterwards whether he will look to bring in more firepower, Arteta told beIN Sports: “At the moment it does not look realistic. What my job is, and what we have to do is improve our players and try to get better results with the players we have.”

Arteta said when asked for an update on Brazil international Jesus, who was forced to undergo surgery on a knee complaint during the summer of 2023: “He had some pain in his knee, so we did a scan and it showed something. Hopefully it is not something big, it’s the same knee that he had (previously injured) so we cannot take any risks. Hopefully not (a big injury).”

Arsenal have now suffered three successive defeats in all competitions, scoring just one goal along the way, and have no more domestic cup action to look forward to this season. They will be back in pursuit of Premier League points on January 20 when when playing host to London rivals Crystal Palace.