Southampton midfielder Victor Wanyama has been long linked with a move to the Emirates, but a transfer has never quite materialized. Now given the injuries to Francis Coquelin and Santi Cazorla, the Mirror claims Arsenal are preparing a £15 million bid for the Kenyan hard-man.
The Daily Express also confirmed the 66-year-old manager’s interest in Wanyama when they quoted Wenger saying: “I rate the player, but we are not on the case, we will see what is there. We have a whole December to go first.”
All summer Gooners were waiting for Wenger to sign a holding midfielder and a top striker, but in the end all they got was goalkeeper Petr Cech from Chelsea. And while that can be considered a major coup, the fact that Arsenal have so many injuries now and not enough cover, proves that the Frenchman should have brought in other players. Consequently he is forced once more to dip into the market in January when clubs are either reluctant to let players leave, or sell them at a premium while knowing that clubs are desperately looking to buy.
Of all the names being mentioned; Borussia Dortmund’s Sven Bender, Borussia Mönchengladbach’s Granit Xhaka, Lazio’s Lucas Biglia, Sevilla’s Grzegorz Krychowiak, Sporting’s William Carvalho or Porto’s Ruben Neves, Wanyama seems the obvious choice given his price-tag and the fact he has already proven himself in the Premier League.
Convincing Southampton to sell is another matter however, as the clubs coffers must be full following all the players they let go last summer, so with that in mind the Mirror also claims Arsenal have a Plan B lined up in PSG central midfielder Adrien Rabiot.
The 20-year-old French international is looking for more first-team playing time ahead of next summer’s European Championships in France, and if Wenger could promise him that, Arsenal may be able to get him at least on loan until the summer.
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