Arteta confirms Gyokeres will stay as Arsenal keep transfer plans under wraps

Mikel Arteta has confirmed that Viktor Gyokeres will remain at Arsenal, while refusing to comment on reports linking the club with moves for Julian Alvarez and Vinicius Junior.

The Arsenal manager was asked whether he wanted to sign Alvarez, the Argentina forward who has also been linked with Barcelona, during the current summer transfer window.

Arteta said: “I’m not going to talk about a player who does not belong to our club. I’m very happy with the squad we have. Of course, we want to improve it further and we are actively working on that.”

The Spaniard was more direct when questioned about Gyokeres’ future, ending speculation over whether the Sweden striker could leave Arsenal.

“Yes, Gyokeres will stay,” said Arteta.

The forward joined Arsenal amid high expectations and has been the subject of continued discussion around the club’s attacking options. Arteta’s comments make clear that he expects Gyokeres to remain part of his plans, although he did not provide further detail about the club’s activity in the transfer market.

Arteta also declined to discuss reports connecting Arsenal with Real Madrid forward Vinicius Junior. However, he made it clear that the London club intends to approach the current transfer window with ambition.

Speaking after Arsenal’s 4-1 friendly victory over Girona, Arteta was asked whether the links with the Brazil international meant further signings could be close.

“We are very active, trying to improve the team and develop it. That is clear,” he said.

“We expect there to be movement in the next few weeks, naturally, because we want to become better, like everybody else. You can see that clearly. The transfer market, what our competitors are doing and what we are doing… we are not going to sit still. We are very ambitious about what we want to do.”

Arteta added that Arsenal must make fine improvements if they are to strengthen their squad and increase competition for places.

“The margins are very small. Because we want to improve, we need to increase the competition internally. We need to make sure we identify the things we are missing in the team, to gain bigger margins. That is the way we have to think,” he said, in comments reported by the Daily Mail.

The manager also praised young Arsenal player Max Dowman after he scored one goal and created another in the win over Girona.

“That is what we want. When you play for Arsenal, the expectations have to be high and we have to expect very good things. We know what he is capable of giving us. We want him to be more consistent in terms of his performances and the actions he can produce. But I thought he had a very good game today,” said Arteta.

Arsenal’s victory provided Dowman with an opportunity to impress, while Arteta’s wider comments reinforced the club’s intention to continue improving the squad despite his reluctance to discuss specific transfer targets.