Having nearly completed the Petr Cech deal, Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger would hope to fill the remaining two slots in the Gunners’ quest to win the Premier League title after nearly 12 years. At the end of last season it was evident that Arsenal were atleast three world class players short to win the Premier League title again after a long gap. One of them was a top goalkeeper and Cech will fill that slot once he joins us next week. The remaining two players we need are a defensive midfielder and a striker and Morgan Schneiderlin looks set to fill the midfield slot.
Wenger has been a long term admirer of this highly rated 25 year old French midfielder and had tried to lure him to the Emirates last summer and most recently in January but was unsuccessful both times. However this week Schneiderlin insisted that he wants to move away from Southampton in search of Champions League football which means a move to Arsenal may still be on the cards, but the Gunners may face some tough competition from Manchester United.
The defensive midfield position has been an unstable position for the North London club at least for the last five years. With Arteta and Flamini ageing and clearly out of form, it was Francis Coquelin who played CDM role the entire second half of last season. But depending on Coquelin alone for an entire season considering that we have 5 competitions(Premier League, FA cup, Capital One cup, Champions League and Community Shield) to play in would not be wise enough.
Hence with fifty odd matches to play in the coming season Wenger would be keen to have another quality defensive midfielder at his disposal. The Southampton midfielder has been linked to Arsenal for a longtime now with Tottenham and Manchester United also monitoring him in recent times. Now it seems that Morgan Schneiderlin is weighing up offers from two Premier League clubs and will make a decision on his future imminently.
This week it was revealed that Arsenal and Manchester United are the two teams who are interested in signing the French midfielder. It is believed that Morgan Schneiderlin could be available for 25 million pounds. Since the 25-year old midfielder is determined to move in search of Champions League football, Southampton may accept the first bid they receive close to that range. Hence teams who need him must act quickly. Last season, he maintained a tackle success rate of 82.3 per cent, making one on average every 22.8 minutes – both rates are up there with the best in the top flight. Schneiderlin may not exactly be world-class but he is close to becoming one.
With a fellow countryman like Coquelin to compete with and an experienced French manager to guide him at Arsenal, Schneiderlin may well be tempted to join the gunners this summer. However Telegraph reported that Schneiderlin wants to join United as he thinks he might get more first team chances there. But according to top Ligue 1 journalist Jonathan Johnson Schneiderlin will join Arsenal because of Wenger.
Last week Schneiderlin told France Bleu Alsace radio station that he expects his future to be resolved shortly. Hence he looks set to leave Southampton after seven seasons at the club and he might be at a new club next week. Whether it will be Arsenal or any other club will be decided in due course. But surely he would be a top addition to the club if he does join us. Lets wait and see what happens.
