Arsenal January transfer window: What to expect, incomings and outgoings for Mikel Arteta's side

Sitting pretty at the top of the Premier League tree, Arsenal's latest nine-figure summer outlay may finally pay dividends come the end of the 2025-26 season, especially if Tuesday's result is anything to go by.

Mikel Arteta's men laid down their biggest statement yet with a 4-1 thumping of title rivals Aston Villa, where new faces and old flames gelled to end the Lions' marvellous 11-match winning run across all tournaments and temporarily take the Gunners five points clear of Manchester City.

Arsenal are reaping the rewards of Arteta and Andrea Berta's tireless work during the summer transfer window - both on the incomings and contract renewals front - and barely a week goes by where the North London outfit's enviable squad depth is not brought up in conversation.

The Gunners' lack of significant outgoings means that January activity is likely to be scarce, but market opportunities could still present themselves for the Premier League leaders, whose resolve over a couple of youngsters could also be tested.

Here, Sports Mole takes an in-depth look at what to expect from Arsenal in the 2026 January transfer window.

Arsenal 2026 January transfer window: Incomings

Many a Gooner would have loved to see Arsenal muscle their way to the head of the Antoine Semenyo queue, but given their embarrassment of wide riches and his £65m release clause, such a swoop was never a realistic winter prospect.

If Arsenal are to do any business on the incomings front in January, future-proofing the midfield is likely the way to go, as all of Christian Norgaard, Martin Odegaard, Declan Rice, Mikel Merino and Martin Zubimendi are either at or approaching their peak.

Elche phenom Rodrigo Mendoza is thought to have plenty of admirers in North London, and the 20-year-old's reported £17.5m release clause would make him a low-risk, high-reward purchase midway through the season, but it will not be as simple as that for Arsenal.

Real Madrid are also thought to be keeping an incredibly close eye on Mendoza, but if the Gunners can scrape the funds together for a mid-season swoop, the 2005-born prospect's presence would allow Arteta to rest the relentless Zubimendi and Rice more often.

Mendoza would also prove to be a cheaper acquisition than Ayyoub Bouaddi of Lille, who are said to want around £40m-£50m to sell their teenage talent and will do their utmost to retain his services for the second half of the campaign.

Chelsea could present a serious threat to Arsenal's hopes of landing Bouaddi too, and it is difficult to envisage the 18-year-old giving up regular football in his homeland for fleeting minutes in North London at this stage of his career.

However, another highly-rated Ligue 1 wonderkid - 18-year-old Darryl Bakola of Marseille - is one to watch, as he is about to enter the final 18 months of his contract with Les Olympiens and is seemingly no closer to signing a new deal.

Marseille may therefore entertain offers for the teenager next month, but Chelsea and Newcastle United - whom Bakola provided an assist against in the Champions League - also have Bakola on their radar.

The Gunners' slew of defensive injuries have also led to calls for rearguard reinforcements in January, and sticking with the French theme, Rennes centre-back Jeremy Jacquet is understood to have caught Arsenal's attention.

The 20-year-old's long-running contract until 2029 means that he would not arrive on the cheap, though, and with Jurrien Timber, Gabriel Magalhaes and Ben White all fit again, Arsenal no longer have a pressing need to add to their ranks.

Arsenal 2026 January transfer window: Outgoings

Still competing for a potential quadruple at the end of the season, Arsenal will almost certainly resist offers for most - if not all - of their senior squad members, but two teenagers could be tempted by offers elsewhere.

The Premier League's youngest-ever player Ethan Nwaneri did not even make the matchday squad against Aston Villa due to the extremely stiff competition in Arteta's ranks, and the 18-year-old is still awaiting his first Premier League start of the season.

Across 11 matches this term, Nwaneri has totalled just 446 minutes, and he has not even made a top-flight appearance since coming off the bench in the closing stages of November's North London derby victory.

Should an enticing loan offer come in for the Hale End prospect, he and his team may very well consider it, but whether Arteta would give the green light to his exit is another question entirely.

Fellow academy graduate Myles Lewis-Skelly is in a similar boat, as while the left-back is earning more minutes than Nwaneri, his hopes of making the England squad for the 2026 World Cup hang dangerously in the balance.

Piero Hincapie and Riccardo Calafiori are both above the 19-year-old in the pecking order when fully fit - he has just the one Premier League start to his name this season - and top-flight clubs are reported to be interested in signing him temporarily.

However, there is little sense in Arsenal weakening their squad during the January transfer window, even if their stance does come at the expense of Lewis-Skelly's World Cup hopes - the defender will no doubt have plentiful opportunities to go to major international tournaments in the future.

If Arsenal's money men decide that a big sale is necessary in January, Leandro Trossard or Gabriel Martinelli seem the most likely to generate interest, but it would still be a shock to see either winger head for the exit door.