Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has confirmed that he is looking to sign "one or two players" in the January transfer window, after his squad was again hit by another double injury blow.
Captain Mikel Arteta and full-back Mathieu Debuchy have both gone under the surgeon's knife in recent days, which rules the duo out for much of the rest of this season.
That dual setback -- which is expected to see Arteta and Debuchy miss the next three months of action -- has forced Wenger to concede he will be forced to spend money in a January transfer window that he has long suggested is not a productive time of the year to get value for money signings.
While Arsenal have a host of midfielders who can step in to replace Arteta, Wenger's squad looks light defensively, with the Gunners boss suggesting he would not be wise to rely heavily on youngsters Calum Chambers and Hector Bellerin with Premier League, Champions League and FA Cup games on their immediate horizon.
"Yes, we are more [in the market now]," Wenger told Arsenal.com. "We have Chambers and we have Bellerin, who is coming on well, and I want to give them a chance as well, but of course we are in the market like many other clubs.
"We work really hard morning until late night to try to get one or two players in."
Wenger has stated on numerous occasions that he is does not enjoy signing players midway through the season, with his experience of spending a huge sum to attract Andrey Arshavin to Arsenal in January 2009 a lesson he has not forgotten.
Yet having failed to secure the defensive signing he suggested he needed last summer, it seems as if the injury to Debuchy has convinced him that the time has come to spend some more cash in a bid to boost his side's hopes of success this season.
Meanwhile, Wenger backed his striker Yaya Sanogo to shine after he made a loan move to Crystal Palace, with the Arsenal boss suggesting it is a chance for the French to prove he can shine in the Premier League consistently.
"Sanogo needs to play," added Wenger. "For me, he needs to play in the Premier League. Then we'll know much more about him. I think he's ready -- it's a very interesting challenge for him to have that responsibility. It's part of the development of the player."