Arsene Wenger believes he has already signed the players necessary to ease the loss of Samir Nasri, who headed for a Manchester City medical on Tuesday.

Arsenal announced on their official website that a fee - believed to be in the region of £25 million - has been agreed with City, following a frustrating saga that has dragged on throughout the summer. The France international should now complete his move in the next 24 hours.

Nasri's departure leaves Arsenal without arguably their best player of last season, and his exit follows the recent loss of captain Cesc Fabregas. Amidst the uncertainty at Emirates Stadium, Arsenal have taken just one point from their first two league games, either side of an unconvincing 1-0 win over Udinese.

With nearly £50 million in the Arsenal coffers from the sales of Nasri and Fabregas, Wenger was asked on Tuesday, 'You've lost two great players, will you replace them with two great players?', to which he replied: "I've bought some great players. We've bought [Alex] Chamberlain, you'll see that he'll be a great player. Gervinho too will be a great player.

"We want ideally more because we are short in certain areas.

"The summer was very difficult because we had Cesc Fabregas and Nasri on permanent transfer negotiations and that is draining in the end. We lost two great players and that's a sad side of the story but at some stage it has to be over, because you want to focus on the future.

"We want players who don't play and then think they are gone the next morning. We want players who are totally committed in the long term to defend our chances. We wanted to sort [Nasri] out quickly after the summer but it was impossible. The pace [of the transfer] was not only dictated by us unfortunately."

Arsenal must now head to Italy with a hugely depleted squad, protecting a fragile-looking 1-0 advantage as they attempt to qualify for the group stage of the Champions League. Wenger, though, rejected suggestions the situation was critical.

"It's not critical, it's an opportunity to qualify for the group stage of the Champions League. So it's a good opportunity," the Frenchman explained. "The pressure is not more and not less. I want to win every game for Arsenal Football Club."

Wenger was seen scratching his head in frustration as Arsenal were comfortably seen off by Liverpool at the weekend, but he disagreed that he is under more pressure now that at any other point in his managerial career.

"This is part of my job," Wenger said. "I'm not at all destabilised. My job is to do my best, and it's a good opportunity to show we can fight for this club. You're always concerned of the consequences it can have on the team, but it can also have a positive consequence if you're strong mentally. You can increase the solidarity because you know you have to fight more."