Mikel Arteta beileves it will be very difficult for Arsenal to sign players who can affect their first team in the January transfer window. The Gunners have been consistently linked with a move for Newcastle United's Alexander Isak, although the Magpies are highly unlikely to sell their prize asset.

Arteta saw Isak's quality at first hand in last week's 2-0 victory for Eddie Howe's side in the first leg of their Carabao Cup semi-final at the Emirates. He will have needed no reminder of just how good the Swede is, but Newcastle are adamant that he is staying on Tyneside, with the player himself loving life at St James' Park.

Arsenal are keen for January reinforcements, with injuries to the likes of Bukayo Saka, Ben White and Ethan Nwaneri stretching the squad as they look to keep the pressure on Liverpool at the top of the Premier League. However Arteta admits that getting the players they want could prove impossible in the coming weeks.

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"First of all, someone that can impact the team, bringing in bodies doesn't help us all," Arteta said when asked about transfers. "It’s just about somebody who can immediately impact our performance and can bring something that we don't have. To find that in this market is very difficult to achieve.

“We set very high standards and we really only want to have players, if they come through the academy or we have to sign those players to really elevate and impact the team, otherwise bringing bodies it doesn’t help us.

"If you look at a sample of a game or two or three, that’s a very small sample. You cannot use that, we don’t use any short samples because they don't correlate to team performance when you look at a year or two, and the team performance, scores, the amount of players that are involved. There is no discussion that we have to focus on our players."

United are hopeful of extending Isak's contract at the club, with his current deal running until 2027. Isak has been in sensational form for the Magpies, and while they are condident of keeping the striker, extending his contract would go a long way to silencing some of the transfer rumours.