Transfer deadline day has arrived and for Arsenal, the hopes of landing a striker have ebbed and flowed throughout the month. Mikel Arteta however goes into Monday off the back of a massive lift by beating Manchester CIty still needing to find that reinforcement.

The Gunners boss could not have been more committed to stating that the side are in need of reinforcement in the striker position. More recently, he has made reference to the need to please all parties and whether or not what they want to do is possible.

"I am not going to talk about any individuals,” he said ahead of the clash with City. “We are actively looking for solutions in this position, and we will see what the market has to offer.

READ MORE: Three deals Arsenal are working to complete on transfer deadline day

READ MORE: Aston Villa may just have given Arsenal green light to sign Ollie Watkins on transfer deadline day

“I am very confident in the work that the club is doing, exploring every single possibility that could impact the team. If we can agree on something, we will do it. If we cannot, then we won't.

“We are trying to do everything possible, but I do not want to make any guarantees or denials. It does not depend solely on us. Our intentions are clear, but the possibilities depend on three parties.”

However, following the win with City, there was perhaps a sense that Arteta's tone on the topic had maybe changed. Asked by football.london where Monday would indeed be a great day, the Gunners boss denied any attention being paid to it.

“I don't know, my phone has been off with transfer window, forbidden to call me, to text me about any of that,” he said. “My focus was that that's the best preparation we can have for Wednesday, and that was the only thing I was interested in.”

football.london understands that an approach and proposal was made to Aston Villa at the start of last week which was quickly turned down – however it fell some way short of the suggestions of £60million when the news initially broke.

The interest did not end after the rebuttal however the subsequent sale of Jhon Duran to Al-Nassr has emboldened Unai Emery and Villa’s position on Watkins, adamantly that he will not be sold. Emery’s side has however been busy in the forward area having landed Donyell Malen earlier in the window, with the club also linked with Marcus Rashford and Marco Asensio.

If still unable to sign Watkins, Arsenal could pivot and have held an interest in Bayern Munich’s Mathys Tel. The Frenchman has seen a host of clubs chase his signature and turned down a move to Tottenham after the north London club agreed a deal with the German side.

Suggestions are however that he may yet remain with Vincent Kompany’s side and assess his options in the summer. This limits the potential for yet another option even further and with Arsenal remaining tight-lipped it could be that a surprise emerges in these final hours.

Any chance of signing Brighton’s Evan Ferguson on loan was blocked by the fact both Neto and Raheem Sterling filled the club’s loan quota from Premier League sides. Arteta ruled out the reality of either loan being terminated or made permanent to open up a slot.

One player who looks like a market opportunity is Jonathan David. The Canadian international has 20 goals this season and eight assists in 33 matches and sees his contract with Lille expire at the end of the season – could Arsenal make a financial play and tempt the French club to cash in? Interest has been there in the past but nothing has formally changed on the file.

Elsewhere, Jorginho has been of interest to Brazilian side Flamengo but Arsenal do not want to let the Italian international leave midway through the season. He could yet sign a pre-contract agreement or just wait until the summer before making the move.

Kieran Tierney similarly has agreed to join Celtic in the summer but Arsenal will be holding onto him it seems until the end of the campaign. Youngster Ayden Heaven has joined Manchester United with football.london being told the club have earned a significant compensation fee and remain calm on the topic of losing youngsters to their historic Premier League rivals after Chido Obi-Martin made the same switch in the summer.

The key reason behind that calmness is very much to do with the rise of Ethan Nwaneri and Myles Lewis-Skelly. The presence of both and their success in the first team is understood by football.london to have changed the way the club view certain aspects of the market and targets as they aim to build from their own foundations.