Arsene Wenger says Arsenal are "nowhere near" a deal to sign Jadson from Shakhtar Donetsk and ruled out a move for Valencia's Juan Mata.
Reports have claimed Arsenal are close to a deal for Brazilian playmaker Jadson, with the player having fuelled speculation when he recently claimed there should be "some news for everyone at the start of next week".
However, Wenger denies he will be heading to Emirates Stadium. "We are nowhere near on Jadson," he said. "We are not talking to Shakhtar about him."
Spain international Juan Mata was thought to be another target, but there were claims that Arsenal failed to complete the deal before the expiry of a release clause in his contract and Wenger has now said he will not be joining the club.
"We will not do [a deal for] Juan Mata," Wenger said. "I don't have to give a reason. We will not do it."
Arsenal have already moved to bring in Gervinho, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Carl Jenkinson, but Wenger suggested he has struggled to find the necessary value in other targets.
"We have two markets: one is internal and one is external. Internal is the young players that we have - players who are inside the club are very important. Externally, if I'm convinced a player brings some extra qualities to the squad, we will always buy him - maybe even overpay a little bit - but to pay three or four times the price, you must really be convinced that this is the player you need. At the moment, we have not found that player."
Wenger told German publication Kicker on Thursday that he is happy with his options in central defence and he has now suggested that the return of Thomas Vermaelen will be equivalent to buying a new player.
"We will have a new centre-back by the end of the transfer window - because Vermaelen only played five games last year," he said. "To buy just for the sake of buying, you won't find me there. If I'm convinced the player has the qualities, I will always do it if he's better than the players we have. We have specialised people to work everywhere. Everybody looks for centre-backs in the whole world. People with unlimited resources look for a centre-back. We are not in a supermarket where you go to a shelf and you ask 'Where are the centre-backs or the strikers?'"
Wenger also explained the delay in offloading players this summer, with the Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri sagas threatening to overshadow the start of the season.
"The pace of the negotiations is set by people who want to buy," Wenger said. "By how much you resist, to how much you defend your own property. That is logical. If I didn't do that I would be unprofessional."
Wenger remains adamant that Arsenal can succeed this season and urged fans to ignore the media criticism.
"I don't listen to what people say. What I want is for our fans to appreciate our team and to support our team," he said. "If our fans go the way the media want them to go we have no chance. The people behind me and around the press box do not necessarily represent the majority of the fans. They are the ones you [journalists] hear the most but aren't necessarily the majority. They make your opinion maybe but they aren't necessarily the opinion."
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