Arteta Addresses Mosquera Injury Concerns Ahead of Deadline Day
Mikel Arteta moved quickly to ease concerns over Cristhian Mosquera after the defender limped off late in Arsenal’s win over Aston Villa – and then turned his attention straight to a frantic final day of the transfer window.
Mosquera had been central to one of the game’s key moments, threading a sharp pass through the lines to release Eberechi Eze and Riccardo Calafiori and crack Villa open. It was the kind of progressive ball Arteta demands from his back line, and it underlined why the 20-year-old has settled so quickly.
Ten minutes from the end, though, he reached for the back of his leg and signalled to the bench. The Emirates held its breath.
Ezri Konsa was sent on for his debut against his former club, a twist that would have dominated the post-match conversation on another night. Instead, all eyes were on Mosquera’s condition and what it might mean for Arsenal’s already stretched defensive resources.
Arteta, though, cut off the panic.
“He is fine,” he said. “But he was feeling like he was about to have something. That’s why we have the bench that we have, that’s why we had to bring Ezri on.”
No serious damage, no immediate crisis. A precaution, not a disaster.
Transfer push gathers pace
The injury scare still sharpened an existing concern. Arsenal know they are walking a tightrope with their squad depth, and Arteta did little to hide that reality as he looked ahead to Deadline Day.
The club remain open to adding more firepower in attack, with Lyon forward Malick Fofana under consideration as the latest option. The plan is clear: if the right deal is there, Arsenal will move.
“We are trying to improve the squad, and until tomorrow night we're going to try to do that,” Arteta said.
He admitted he had been locked away from the noise in the build-up to Villa.
“I've been disconnected from the world for 24 hours, because I think my energy and focus has to be on the match, and I will get back on it now.”
Depth under the microscope
The question, as always at this stage of the window: do Arsenal have enough, especially up front, to go the distance?
Asked whether he was confident in his attacking options, particularly with departures already sanctioned, Arteta’s answer went straight back to availability and risk.
“It depends if everybody's fit or not,” he replied. “We can talk about today, but that scenario might change.”
He pointed to the recent absence of Willy Saliba as a warning sign.
“We knew that with Willy out, we had an injury in the back line. We knew we were in big trouble, so we had to do everything. And today, Mosquera, he could not continue.”
The message was blunt. Competing on four fronts, playing at Arsenal’s intensity, demands numbers as well as quality.
“So we know that the depth has to be really big when you're fighting for four competitions, in the manner that we play as well. So we're going to try to do that.”
Mosquera is fine. The squad, in Arteta’s eyes, is not quite there yet. Deadline Day will show how far Arsenal are really prepared to go to change that.
