Former Gunners star Martin Keown has questioned Arsenal’s decision to only sanction loan deals during the January transfer window.

The TV pundit believes a club as wealthy as the Gunners should not be having to penny pinch in order to secure deals for players:

“It’s a very weird situation at Arsenal. For the club to say they’re only allowed to loan players… This is the sixth-wealthiest club in the world, and we can’t buy a player in this transfer window? I think that’s astonishing!”

Manager Unai Emery explained the transfer policy earlier this month, and it’s clearly having an effect on the types of targets the club are pursuing.

Arsenal are reportedly trying to secure a deal for Barcelona’s Denis Suarez, but so far they haven’t managed to come to an agreement with the Catalan club.

Barca are believed to be keen to offload the 25-year-old on a permanent basis but the Gunners are said to be only prepared to take the player on an initial loan deal.

At yesterday’s pre-match press conference, Emery confirmed that the club is looking for new recruits but that it isn’t easy to find players of sufficient quality on the loan market:

“It’s not easy to take players who can help us with a big performance now. It’s one more transfer [window] for something special you need. The club is working on the possibility to loan players. If we can take to help us for different positions in the team we can.”