LONDON -- Arsene Wenger refused to comment on the expected signing of Valencia centre-back Shkodran Mustafi but said Arsenal were looking to strengthen their squad.
On Thursday, Mustafi's agent said the two clubs were in talks, with Arsenal needing to bring a central defender after injuries to Per Mertesacker and Gabriel Paulista.
But Wenger brushed off questions about Mustafi at his news conference ahead of Sunday's home clash with Liverpool, saying: "I cannot tell you.
"Today my focus is not too much on this [transfers], because we play a very important game in 48 hours.
"To do well in this game, transfers will not help us now. We have a strong squad and we have to deal on Sunday with the squad we have available.
"I believe we are equipped to do well and we are confident that we can do well. Transfer-wise, as soon as we do something we will inform you."
The Gunners have made only one major signing this summer, bringing in midfielder Granit Xhaka from Borussia Moenchengladbach, despite Wenger having said he also wanted to buy a striker and a defender.
While a deal for Mustafi is expected to go through, the manager added: "I don't count in numbers, because numbers-wise we have too big a squad, like many teams.
"If we find top quality, we'll still strengthen our squad. There's no other specific area where we do not need or we do need. It will depend on the quality we find."
With Paul Pogba having completed a record-breaking £89.3 million move to Manchester United, Wenger acknowledged that United had more money to spend than Arsenal but said financial might alone would not decide the Premier League.
"Man United is the richest club in the world, basically with Real Madrid. So not many teams can compete on the financial amounts," he said.
"But I feel like that doesn't make the difference. At the moment I feel on the pitch we can compete, and that's the most important.
"The financial competition doesn't always reflect the table of the Premier League, and we have to make sure that is the case. Leicester have shown that last year.
"But we accept that, certainly on a longer distance, the money has a huge influence on the table... sometimes in a shorter period not so much.
"But we just try to compete at our level with all the assets we have, and I'm sure we can compete with them."