Wenger vows to spend

LONDON. — Arsene Wenger vowed to spend on defensive reinforcements after Arsenal lost Mathieu Debuchy to a dislocated shoulder on Sunday night.

Debuchy suffered the unfortunate injury after he was shoved into the advertising boards by Marko Arnautovic during the first half of the Gunners’ 3-0 win over Stoke.

Alexis Sanchez scored twice after Laurent Koscielny broke the deadlock to lift Arsenal above Tottenham into fifth place.

But Wenger was left counting the cost after losing Debuchy, who has already missed three months of the season with an ankle injury. The Gunners boss said: “We lost another experienced defender and that gives us a problem because we are really short. I was in the market anyway but for sure losing Debuchy means centre-back is a position where we are short.”

Debuchy will now see a specialist to determine the extent of the injury.

But Wenger refused to point the finger at Arnautovic, saying the incident “didn’t look bad”. His side are stretched at the back as Kieran Gibbs (ankle) and Calum Chambers (illness) are also out of action.

Wenger is interested in West Ham defender Winston Reid and Celtic’s Virgil van Dijk and could now be forced to act quickly during the transfer window.

Sanchez once again proved the matchwinner after taking his record to 18 goals for the season. He has now been involved in more English Premier League goals than any other player this term.

Wenger said: “Sanchez is one of the best players. He’s a fighter with a combination of talent and fighting spirit which is very difficult to find. He plays with passion.”

Wenger also insisted his decision to leave Wojciech Szczesny on the bench was nothing to do with the goalkeeper being caught smoking in the dressing room at Southampton.

He said: “Was it a factor? No. How did he take it? I don’t know. You know how you can take a decision. I don’t want to talk too much about that because the more I talk the less I inform you.” But Szczesny reacted furiously after being dropped following his cigarette shame.

Wenger picked Colombian keeper David Ospina after Mirror Sport revealed this week Szczesny was fined £20 000 for smoking in the showers at Southampton. — The Daily Star-The Mirror.