Josh Kroenke sends message to Mikel Arteta over summer transfers at Arsenal

Josh Kroenke, the son of Arsenal owner Stan, has told manager Mikel Arteta he will support the club in the transfer market this summer.

The Gunners are looking to strengthen their threadbare squad following qualification for the Europa League next season.

And, according to reports, Arteta wants to sign two new strikers, a central midfielder and two full-backs when the window opens in a few weeks’ time.

The Kroenkes have been criticised for failing to supply enough funds in the past, but Josh says he trusts Arteta and technical director Edu to bring in the right players.

Speaking in the club’s official matchday programme, he said: ‘There have been a lot of changes in our squad in the last few years and I know the work still isn’t done.

‘In terms of bringing more players in, we would have liked to have moved faster in certain areas but there are some factors out of our control when you are on the back of a global pandemic and I think internally we recognise that there’s still much work to be done.

‘On a recruitment standpoint I will always defer to Edu and Mikel but I know they have a blueprint of the type of player and specific positions that we need to reinforce heading into the summer, so I’ll defer to them and support them in every way that we can in their pursuit of elevating the quality of the squad and also ensuring that we have the right mentality of player coming in.

‘We only want players who are passionate about Arsenal Football Club.’

Since Arteta arrived at the club in 2019, he has sought to fix Arsenal’s mistakes in recruitment by bringing in young players.

The likes of Aaron Ramsdale, Martin Odegaard and Ben White were signed last summer and have become the bedrock of the current side.

Meanwhile, older