It’s that “football – less” time of the year again when all you can do to keep yourself occupied is swipe past scores of transfer rumours, some that make sense, some that don’t, while a few others which are absolutely outrageous. This year isn’t any different, with most top clubs linked with a number of star names. As always, Arsenal is linked with a bunch of talented players. Whether we actually end up buying any of these players will be interesting to see, specially in a couple of important positions. Here is a roundup of all the latest rumours :
1. Morgan Schneiderlin – The young Frenchman has been on Arsene Wenger’s radar for a while now and might be a very useful signing in the centre of the park, a position where Arsenal need one more authoritative figure besides Francis Coquelin. Recent reports indicate though that United are interested in him as well, which isn’t great news for Arsenal fans considering their financial might and the fact that he might get more first team action at Old Trafford in the absence of the injury prone Michael Carrick. This one is going to go down to the wire it seems.
2. Gonzalo Higuain – The experienced Argentine marksman is apparently another target for Wenger, as reported by several news agencies in the Italian press. But it is hard to see how he will improve this Arsenal squad. Having had an ordinary season for Napoli, the former Real Madrid striker looks low on confidence while injuries have taken a toll on his performances in the past couple of seasons. Moreover, he doesn’t quite have the pace to be considered an upgrade over Olivier Giroud. “Not happening” in our opinion.
3. Arturo Vidal – The Chilean engine would be a fantastic addition to the squad, with reports that Wenger is interested in someone like him over a strictly defensive midfielder. Indeed, Italian and British press have lately been abuzz with rumours about Alexis Sanchez convincing his national teammate to make the switch (they share the same agent too), with a figure of £28m being thrown around. His reading of the game is immaculate and his stamina and technique are probably second to none, which is why it’s difficult to see why Juventus would let him leave, specially with either of Andrea Pirlo or Paul Pogba said to be on the lookout for a new club. Will be a fantastic signing if it happens though, although the chances are pretty bleak.
4. Jackson Martinez – The Columbian forward is another name to have been linked to Arsenal this past week, with Metro reporting that Porto have rejected an offer from Atletico Madrid for the 28 year old, thus paving way for an Arsenal switch. We won’t quite jump up with joy regarding this one yet, Metro being Metro, and also because the race for this one might be more of a marathon, with a number of clubs interested in the player who had a great season in the Portuguese league. He is a promising option though, and provides different qualities to what we already have in Giroud and Welbeck.
A few other names have come up too. Alexandre Lacazette, Geoffrey Kondogbia are two of them. But this being just the start of the transfer window, we would be better served to not believe everything that comes out in the papers and trust the club’s judgement in bringing in the right players to go out and win the league next season. Till next time..
