Arsenal boss Arsène Wenger has been linked with a number of midfielders all summer long but has now suggested he won’t be signing one before the transfer window closes.

With Aaron Ramsey, Santi Cazorla, Jack Wilshere, Francis Coquelin and Mikel Arteta all competing for central places the manager is finding balancing his midfield tricky and thinks bringing anyone else in will only complicate the matter.

“It’s an impossible job [to balance the midfield],” the Arsenal manager said ahead of Monday night’s clash with Liverpool. “But that’s why I tell you I always get asked two questions, ‘Why don’t you buy more players, and how do you keep them all happy now?'”

“I believe that competition is part of our job. On the other hand you have to get the number right – too many players in the squad goes against competition.

“If you have a certain number of players who think they never have a chance to play, they killed something. Not enough players creates too much of a comfort zone.”

That makes the signing of someone like Asier Illarramendi or Grzegorz Krychowiak unlikely, as it could push players like Wilshere so far down the pecking order that motivation is lost.

With Mikel Arteta and Francis Coquelin our current options I do hope I’m wrong, but it seems unlikely that Wenger will pursue a deep playing midfielder before the window closes. If he doesn’t, do the Gunners have enough to launch a title bid?