£45m star and ex-Chelsea striker were ‘open’ to joining Arsenal in January

Arsenal failed to bolster Mikel Arteta’s squad in January despite two targets being ‘open’ to moves to the Emirates Stadium, according to reports.

The Gunners were one of the few clubs in the Premier League not to make any signings during the January transfer window.

Arteta was expected to bring in a new forward after losing Gabriel Jesus to a season-ending ACL injury, while Bukayo Saka remains sidelined with a hamstring problem.

But Arteta will have to make do with his current options for the rest of the season as he aims to end Arsenal’s 21-year wait for a Premier League trophy.

Arsenal’s lack of signings does not mean a lack of intent during the winter window, with the north London club expressing interest in a number of players, particularly towards the end of the month.

The Gunners even made an official bid for England striker Ollie Watkins, though Aston Villa never had any intention of selling, especially after Jhon Duran moved to Saudi Arabia.

Arsenal also considered last-ditch moves for Mathys Tel and Alvaro Morata, who both would have given ‘serious consideration to joining’ the club, according to the Daily Mail.

Bayern Munich forward Tel held talks with Arsenal but ended up joining their fierce north London rivals Tottenham on loan until the end of the season.

Tel was struggling for game-time under Vincent Kompany and will look to revive his career at Spurs, who have the option to sign him on a permanent deal in the summer for £45m.

The 19-year-old scored his first Spurs goal at the weekend but was unable to prevent Ange Postecoglou’s side from losing to Aston Villa and exiting the FA Cup just days after their Carabao Cup semi-final defeat to Liverpool.

Arsenal also looked into the possibility of signing ex-Chelsea striker Morata from AC Milan after Villa rejected their offer for Watkins.

The former Real Madrid, Juventus and Atletico Madrid forward, who scored 24 goals in 72 appearances for Chelsea, ended up joining Turkish giants Galatasaray, also on loan.

Speaking after the transfer window closed, Arteta admitted he was ‘disappointed’ by the lack of signings but praised the club’s discipline in the market.

‘We had a clear intention which is always when a window opens to explore the opportunities to improve our squad with players that can make an impact,’ Arteta said.

‘With players injured, we’ve been impacted and we haven’t achieved it. We are disappointed in that sense but as well we are very aware that we only want to bring certain kinds of players and we have to be very disciplined with that as well. I think that we were.

‘It’s in the profile, a player that we believe can make us much better. Financially there is a lot of ways, a lot of things that we must stay in the lane that has taken us this far and from there try to improve.’

Arsenal are currently enjoying some warm weather training in Dubai after failing to reach the Carabao Cup final last week.

The Gunners return to Premier League action on Saturday against relegation-battlers Leicester City.

As well as targeting the Premier League title, Arteta’s side also have aspirations of lifting the Champions League trophy after qualifying automatically for the knockout stages.

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