Mikel Arteta says Arsenal have done something completely ‘unprecedented’

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Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has described the club’s January transfer window outgoings as “unprecedented” but necessary.

The Gunners let three former first-teamers leave permanently at the start of the year – Mesut Ozil, Shkodran Mustafi and Sokratis Papastathopoulos.

Matt Macey was also released, while Sead Kolasinac, William Saliba, Ainsley Maitland-Niles and Joe Willock were sent out on loan.

Arsenal also signed two players on loan – goalkeeper Mat Ryan and playmaker Martin Odegaard.

“I think what we did in January is unprecedented,” Arteta told Sky Sports. “If you look at the amount of changes that we’ve made in 12 months, it’s incredible.

“That has consequences as well because you need some stability. You have to get to a point where you can do two or three things [in a window] and it’s done.

“But we had to establish ourselves as a squad as well as a team. We are no longer 32 players, which was impossible to manage. We’ve got some players who have given us a real boost. I’m talking about the young players but also senior players who started to raise their level.

“We changed our formation, which helped us as well, and we started to find more chemistry around the players and more fluidity. We were much more of a goal threat, and we got more confidence when we started to get results, which in football is one of the main parts.”

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You’re not going to see many clubs offload so many fringe players – particularly former first-teamers on big money – in a January window, but Arsenal certainly did the right thing.

The squad more manageable and there’s lot of money off the wage bill, which was necessary given how much the Gunners were struggling in the first half of the season.

In addition, Odegaard and Ryan were necessary acquisitions, given Arsenal’s need for a No. 10 and second-choice goalkeeper amid Alex Runarsson’s struggles.