Mikel Arteta said he does not know if he will be given the funds he needs to accelerate his Arsenal rebuilding project and admits that lack of spending power means a ‘big concern’.
The Arsenal coach helped the side to a 2-1 win over Liverpool on Wednesday with his changed side benefiting from the mistakes committed by Van Dijk and Alisson.
But while Arsenal’s hopes of qualifying for Europe next year remain intact, Arteta acknowledged that hard work and commitment alone is not enough, he says they need to spend.
Arteta spoke before the match about how Arsenal need to follow Liverpool’s recruitment model.
After watching his team comeback from Sunday’s defeat he again said he needs new quality players, if he is to move Arsenal forward.
Asked if has been given a guarantee of funds Arteta said: ‘I don’t know. (It is) a big concern. You know, you just have to see how they build these squads.
‘There is no magic, you need to improve with quality, quality players in the squad. And you need bigger squads to compete in this competition and this is the challenge.’
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On whether he has a similar task to the one Arsene Wenger was assigned when he first became manager of the club 24 years ago, Arteta said: ‘I think the context is different I think the competition in the country is much harder than what it was before.
‘Arsene did some incredible things, brought some new ideas, a new philosophy to the country and he was very successful.
‘I have done nothing yet and have everything to do. We need support, we need belief and we need to go in the direction.’
