Wenger replies when asked if Arsenal should have signed a new striker

Arsene Wenger has rejected suggestions that he should have made a January transfer bid to sign a new striker for Arsenal.

The north London side brought in midfielder Mohamed Elneny from FC Basel as their only recruit last month as Wenger opted not to bolster his attacking options at Emirates Stadium.

They are all at big clubs and are under contract. There were none available

Arsene Wenger

Wenger watched his side play out a frustrating goalless draw with Southampton at The Emirates on Tuesday night as they were forced to settle for a point and dropped down into fourth place in the Premier League.

Arsenal have now gone three top-flight games without scoring a goal and Wenger was inevitably questioned about the Gunners’ attacking line-up after the final whistle.

But Wenger insisted that it would have been nearly impossible for him to bring in a top-class striker during the January transfer window.

Asked if he should have signed a forward last month, Wenger told his post-match news conference: “If you knew a world-class striker who could have strengthened our team, you should have told me before the transfer deadline was over.

“They do not walk in the street and say ‘please, here is a world-class striker, can you take me?’ They are all at big clubs and are under contract. There were none available.

“We have Theo Walcott, we have Olivier Giroud, we have Mesut Ozil, we have Alexis Sanchez, we have Danny Welbeck, who is coming back.

“If tonight we think a miracle man could have scored the goal for us, I think it’s better we think how can we score the goals with the players we have? We can score goals, we have shown that before.”