Ipswich Town manager Mick McCarthy warns Arsenal defender Tyrone Mings is not for sale

Ipswich Town manager Mick McCarthy has claimed Arsenal will not have the resources to sign Tyrone Mings from the Championship promotion contenders during the January transfer window.

Gunners manager Arsene Wenger is a confirmed admirer of the 21-year-old defender, who has been among the most impressive performers amid the club's charge into the play-off positions.

Wenger has also made signing a defender a priority during the mid-season transfer window but Arsenal may be forced to redirect their attention to other targets after McCarthy stated the Tractor Boys' valuation exceeds the funds available to the Premier League side.

Quizzed on the chance of Mings leaving Portman Road, McCarthy told a pre-match press conference ahead of the FA Cup third round replay against Southampton: "Yeah, I've just been on the phone arranging to sell him!

"They [Arsenal] haven't got enough money. Well, they might have enough money but they wouldn't be prepared to pay it. He's not going anywhere. You might as well hear that from me. He's not.

"He's a really good player and he's not going anywhere. He might as well hear that as well. That's always the case, they think 'is it going to happen, isn't it going to happen?' Why would he not want to try and get promoted with us? We're in a really good position."

Town are just a point off an automatic promotion place after five wins in their last seven games but Arsenal could offer Mings appearances against some of the biggest clubs in the country, exposure to the Champions League and an enhanced chance of winning a first senior England cap.

Long-term injuries to Mathieu Debuchy and Laurent Koscielny this season has decimated Arsenal's wafer-thin back-four, with only six senior defenders having been available to Wenger this term.