Technical director Edu has overseen a busy January window at Arsenal; Martin Odegaard and Mat Ryan have arrived, with Mesut Ozil, Sokratis, Sead Kolasinac and William Saliba leaving; Mikel Arteta does not rule out late business on Deadline Day
Monday 1 February 2021 12:46, UK
Mikel Arteta has praised the work Edu has done reshaping Arsenal's squad, joking he spends more time speaking with the technical director than his own wife.
Edu has overseen a busy January transfer window, with several players who were not in Arteta's plans leaving the club.
Mesut Ozil - who was Arsenal's highest earner but did not play a game this season - has joined Fenerbahce, Sokratis was released and Sead Kolasinac and William Saliba have departed on loan.
The Gunners have also brought in Martin Odegaard and Mat Ryan on temporary deals from Real Madrid and Brighton respectively, and Arteta has been impressed with what Edu has been able to achieve in what has generally been a quiet window.
"Probably in the last year or so I've spoken with Edu more than anybody else in my life. That's what my wife says!" said Arteta. "Because of all the things we've had to go through, with coronavirus and the transfers as well.
"Luckily we have a great relationship, we've got a great understanding and we support each other in a great way.
"I think he's doing a great job. Since I joined, the clarity he showed when they came to try to convince me to join the club, then to stick to the plan that we have and the way he's going about it, I'm really impressed with him."
The transfer window closes on Monday night and Arteta has not ruled out further business before the deadline, saying: "The last day of the transfer window is always unpredictable, so things can happen.
"They might happen, they might not happen. We are on it."
Once the window closes on Monday night, Arteta's focus will turn to Arsenal's trip to Wolves on Tuesday evening, with the Gunners in a much better position now than after their previous meeting.
Wolves took a 2-1 victory from the Emirates in November, a result which left Arsenal 14th in the Premier League and Arteta answering questions about his future at the club
But the Spaniard has helped Arsenal to turn around their fortunes, and he feels they go into the clash at Molineux in a much better place.
He said: "Obviously we took some pressure off ourselves with the situation we were in in the table, but we know there is a long way to go, a lot of points to catch up with the top teams.
"We have to game by game and if we keep performing the way we are at the moment, we will be in a good position at the end of the season.
"But we have to be very consistent to have any chance of achieving any top spots."
The winter transfer window closes at 11pm on Monday, February 1, and Sky Sports will bring you all the drama as clubs scramble to get the final pieces of business over the line.
Head to Sky Sports News - channel 409 - for breaking news, reaction and analysis throughout the day from studio guests such as Harry Redknapp, Fabrizio Romano, Lianne Sanderson, David James, Darren Bent, Paul Merson and Alan Smith.
Our Transfer Centre blog will bring you all the latest developments across the leagues from 6am.
Join us from 1-2pm and 8-11pm via the Sky Sports website and app, as well as on Facebook and Twitter @SkySportsNews and through the Sky Sports News YouTube channel.
