MIKEL ARTETA HAS admitted Arsenal are “actively looking at options” to replace Mikel Merino in the closing hours of the transfer window.

Merino is set to be sidelined for the remainder of the season with a fractured right foot which requires surgery.

Arsenal already boast one of, if not, the strongest Premier League squads after spending £250million across eight players in the summer.

But Arteta said the club, whose trophy aspirations were derailed by injuries last season, do not want to take any chances.

The versatile Merino, who sustained the injury in Arsenal’s defeat against Manchester United last month, has scored six goals in 33 appearances this season.

And speaking ahead of the second leg of Arsenal’s Carabao Cup semi-final clash against Chelsea, where his side hold a 3-2 aggregate lead, Arteta said: “We are actively looking at options and we will continue to do that.

“When you lose a big player like this with four months to go, and all the competitions to play for, you need to look and we need to do everything we possibly can to see if a player is available, and if not, we keep what we have.

“You need a player that has the capacity to adapt immediately and impact the team and that is not easy, but if it was easy we wouldn’t be here, so we need to find solutions and try.

“Yes, we have more depth now (than last season) but for seven months we have not because we have had players out. We know the demands and we need players because we play every two to three days.

“I wouldn’t say I am relaxed. We are on it. It is our responsibility. When we are playing for what we are playing for, we need to give ourselves the best opportunity and chance to look at the market, every option, evaluate them, and then make a decision if we can do something, if it is possible.”

Bukayo Saka was unable to play in Arsenal’s 4-0 win against Leeds at Elland Road on Saturday after he sustained a hip injury in the warm-up.

However, Arteta said of the England international: “Today, he was better. Let’s see how he responds. It doesn’t look like something too serious. But whether he is available for tomorrow or the weekend, we will have to wait and see.”

Arsenal are six points clear at the top of the Premier League, through to the knockout stages of the Champions League as group winners and just one game away from next month’s Carabao Cup final as Arteta bids to end his six-year wait for a trophy.

And the Spaniard concluded: “Tomorrow we have a really tough game against a very good Chelsea side. We have the home advantage, we have a good result (from the first leg), but we have still a lot of work to do.

“The next one is always the most important one. And it is the closest, at least, to reach a final. We really need to create the atmosphere, the energy, the belief that we’re going to do it. And all together, I’m sure we’re very capable of doing that.”