---
title: "Unai Emery admits he will look to strengthen his defence in January"
canonical: "https://readarsenal.com/2018/12/14/unai-emery-admits-he-will-look-to-strengthen-his-defence-in-january/"
type: "post"
language: "en-GB"
author: "Henry Jackson"
section: "Arsenal News"
published: "2018-12-14T08:12:01Z"
modified: "2018-12-14T08:12:01Z"
---

# Unai Emery admits he will look to strengthen his defence in January

Arsenal manager Unai Emery says he will look to bring in a new centre-back in January.

The Gunners took their unbeaten streak to 22 matches on Thursday night, beating Qarabag 1-0 at the Emirates.

Despite their excellent form, a lack of options at the back are proving problematic ahead of a busy run of games.

Emery [told](https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/transfer-news/arsenal-centre-back-trio-transfer-13726381) reporters it is the one area of the pitch where he will look to strengthen next month:

![Marc Atkins/Getty Images Sport](https://cdn.readeverything.co/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/1072882280.jpg)

> I don’t know if it’s possible, but I think if we can take one player to help us at centre-back it’s a good option.

> Koscielny coming back is very important for the team and we are going to see how Mavropanos is improving with his injuries.

> Nacho Monreal can play in this position. But I prefer to use, if we can, specific centre-backs in this position.

![Marc Atkins/Getty Images Sport](https://cdn.readeverything.co/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/1072882066.jpg)

Arsenal have Rob Holding out for the entire season, after the youngster picked up a cruciate knee ligament injury in the 2-2 draw at Manchester United. Konstantinos Mavropanos is also out.

Question marks also surround the long-term fitness of Laurent Koscielny, with the veteran making his long-awaited comeback against Qarabag after seven months out.