adminLOS ANGELES. — Arsene Wenger has revealed that Arsenal are not close to completing any transfer deals. The Arsenal manager was pushed for updates in the aftermath of his side’s 3-1 pre-season win over Chivas Guadalajara on Sunday night during which he made the admission. Asked if he expects to sign Shkodran Mustafi, Wenger replied: “We have not closed any deal with anybody at the moment. That’s the answer. You speak about Mustafi. Is it Mustafi or anybody else — we haven’t concluded anything at the moment.”He then needed just one word to answer whether a deal for any player was close: “No”, he said.
When asked about Alexandre Lacazette, the striker who it was recently revealed the Gunners had made a failed bid for, Wenger said: “I can understand that you are interested in transfers but I’m not ready to come out on any name.’
In addition to Lacazette, Arsenal have been strongly linked with PFA Player of the Year Riyad Mahrez.
Wenger has, meanwhile, revealed Santi Cazorla may not be physically ready for the start of the new soccer season.
The 31-year-old midfielder missed a large part of the last campaign through injury, playing just one Premier League game after November.
He has played just 45 minutes in pre-season so far for the Gunners, the first half of Arsenal’s 3-1 win over Chivas on Sunday night.
And Wenger confirmed afterwards the Spaniard may not be completely ready for the visit of Liverpool in under two weeks time.
Wenger said: “At the moment he is not completely there on the fitness front.
“That’s why I took him off at half-time.
“He’s a bit behind the others physically but I think he will be alright, maybe not on August 14th, but at the end of August he should be alright.”
Wenger is also hoping Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain can be fully fit in time for the start of the Premier League season after the midfielder struggled with a knee injury last campaign.
Oxlade-Chamberlain, who damaged his knee in a Champions League match against Barcelona in February, scored in Sunday’s pre-season 3-1 win over Mexican club Guadalajara Chivas in California.
The England midfielder scored a sublime second goal on 50 minutes.
He showed great skill to beat one defender before back-heeling the ball back into his own path and rocketing a left-footed drive across the goalkeeper.
Arsenal begin their new season with crucial games against Liverpool at the Emirates on August 14 and a trip to Premier League champions Leicester City six days later.
“It’s a very important season for him. He has been out for a long, long time. He has been injured and did not go to the European Championship. That’s why I’m cautious with him,” Wenger told the club’s website.
“I hope I can get him through and fit for the start of the season. (He gives us) power, penetration. It’s difficult what he doesn’t have… that’s why I would like him to get to the level he can go to.”
The 3-1 win on Sunday was Arsenal’s final fixture on the tour of the USA and Wenger was pleased with what he saw.
“It was an ideal game against a very determined Chivas,” Wenger said.
“Overall I think it was interesting for us because we needed to be patient as they started better than us.
“After 20 minutes we came into the game and we got a comfortable win in the end.
“It was very interesting to see some young players — we had a very young defence.
“Overall it was a positive experience for us.”
Summer signings Granit Xhaka and Rob Holding were both named in a strong starting line-up for the Gunners in Los Angeles.
And it was the latter who opened the scoring, latching onto the end of a Calum Chambers cross shortly before the break.
As expected, Wenger made a raft of changes at half-time with Kieran Gibbs, Joel Campbell, Chuba Akpom, Mathieu Debuchy and Krystian Bielik all introduced.
And it wasn’t long before Arsenal doubled their lead as Oxlade-Chamberlain bagged himself a fine solo goal. — The Daily Star.
Online Reporter