Just when their Premier League title bid appeared to be gaining some real momentum, it’s suddenly derailed by a typically Arsenal injury crisis.
Indeed, the Gunners had eight players injured for their Champions League win over Dynamo Zagreb in midweek, namely Jack Wilshere, Aaron Ramsey, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Tomas Rosicky, Theo Walcott, Francis Coquelin, Danny Welbeck and Mikel Arteta.
Some could return to action as soon as the coming weekend but others – most particularly, defensive midfielder Francis Coquelin – will be out for some time.
Arsene Wenger has already claimed that he’ll “do what’s needed in January” but the Emirates boss has never been fond of spending big and especially during the winter transfer market.
Therefore, a few midseason bargains could be in order – a price-range Le Professeur tends to feel far more comfortable with.
And just in case he’s short on a few ideas, we’ve come up with four cut-price signings who would help solve Arsenal’s injury crisis, bolstering their squad for the second half of the season.