When a manager is open about wanting new players in the transfer market it says plenty for their desperation. Mikel Arteta went a step further earlier this week.

"We know who we want to sign," he admitted ahead of Wednesday's North London Derby against Tottenham. "We have very clear ideas of the players that we want, yes."

Arsenal's interest extends from midfielder Martin Zubimendi to rapid forward Nico Williams. There are many others in-between, including RB Leipzig forward Benjamin Sesko. Buying any of these in January is deemed extremely unlikely simply due to mid-season player commitments and the enormous finances needed.

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Although Arteta's continued injury crisis - which has spread to all parts of the squad at different stages of the campaign so far - has heightened the need for reinforcements immediately, there is a silver lining. Arsenal do have plenty to go at in the coming months with the Premier League title race appearing to be back on, as well as an attempt to overturn a 2-0 Carabao Cup semi-final first-leg deficit to Newcastle.

The FA Cup is out of the equation Champions League is not. Arsenal are currently third in the group phase with two matches left to play. Things kick back off next week and Arsenal know how important it is to ensure qualification via the top eight.

If they hold their current spot then they will not need another two-match play-off to get through to the last-16. Unlike Manchester City, who have a genuine battle to even finish in the top 24 and to secure a knockout place, Arsenal are all but through.

Paris Saint-Germain, in 25th, and Stuttgart are the only two teams from outside the top 24 who can match Arsenal's 13 points but have massively inferior goal differences. For them to overtake Arsenal it would also need a near-impossible set of results in the remaining games to happen as well.

Automatic qualification is less assured. Arsenal are level with five other teams currently and know that they are a single result away from 19th place Club Brugge.

It means that despite there still being a lot to play for, Arsenal can be confident of getting through. Even with a fitness plagued squad, Arteta will expect his team to have enough to get past Dinamo Zagreb and Girona without any new additions.

This is important because Manchester City, who are working on three new players - Omar Mamoush, Vitor Reiss, and Abdukodir Khusanov - will not be able to rely on any of their big-money transfers whilst pushing to progress. That will come as an immense blow for Pep Guardiola.

UEFA rules don't allow for new registrations or changes to the squad until after the league phase is finished. That does mean that if Arsenal qualify then they can rely on any new signings made this month but after an impressive comeback in the competition, they don't have to be too worried about not having extra reinforcements for the last two matches.

PSG, who have just announced Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, will not be able to use him to their advantage until later on in the season should they qualify. At one point it looked as if Arsenal themselves might be in trouble of this.

After a faltering start to the season they drew their opening game and went on to lose to Inter three matches later. Comfortable wins over Sporting CP and Monaco since have changed the complexion entirely and means they are now in a position to not only get through but also to do so without worrying about their squad composition for now.

It is a luxury some of their rivals do not have. Come the knockout stage Arsenal know they will be able to integrate potential transfers into the group and have little jeopardy of not getting there without them.