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Arsene Wenger needs Arsenal balance in transfer window, says Jeff Stelling

Image: Giroud: would he suffer if Wenger signed in January?

We've still got a few more days of the transfer window to go so we'll see if Arsene Wenger is playing a game or not when he says it's unlikely we'll see any new faces in North London this month.

Dictate

Wenger has also called Juan Mata's potential transfer to Manchester United 'a bit unfair' as Chelsea have already played United twice this season. I don't agree with this, but it just shows again how anti the transfer window Arsene Wenger is, but there's an argument that he shouldn't say any of it at all. I mean, is he afraid of a Chelsea reserve? Don't tell me that Jose Mourinho and Chelsea are letting Mata move to Manchester United just so that he can play against Arsenal - that doesn't make any sense at all. We don't even know if he would play against them either! In the transfer window you cannot dictate who sells to who. You've just got to accept that the seller has the right to sell to who the heck he wants to. I don't agree with Arsene on this one, but I do agree that we might not need this January transfer window at all.

JEFF'S GEM OF WEEK

It has to be Reading for scoring seven past Bolton. The Trotters are having a nightmare and are in so many financial issues; I do feel sorry for Dougie Freedman, he's a bright young manager. From a Reading perspective I don't think they've been anywhere near their best for most of the season and Nigel Adkins, who we know was unlucky to lose his job at Southampton, is a brilliant and enthusiastic manager, an extremely likeable character and is finally getting the best out of them. They've got some talented players at Reading, like Adam Le Fondre who is a born goalscorer and I'm always surprised when he's on the bench - it was brilliant for him to get a hat-trick. It wouldn't surprise me if Reading now went on a really good run until the end of the season and they can certainly make the play-off places.

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