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Arsenal Set To Bid £15m For PERFECT January Signing

By on December 4, 2014

According to reports today, Arsenal are lining up a £15m bid for Southampton midfielder Morgan Schneiderlin ahead of the January transfer window.

Arsene Wenger is in the market for another midfielder after seeing Jack Wilshere ruled out for three months following ankle surgery.

Mikel Arteta is also sidelined with a troublesome calf injury and a long-term replacement for the Spaniard is now a priority for the boss after he missed out on several targets in the summer.

One name who was strongly linked with us during the summer months was Schneiderlin and it’s being reported by the Express that we’re ready to renew our interest after failing to persuade the Saints to do business back in August.

Ronald Koeman refused to let the French international leave at the time, despite the player going public with his desire to quit the South Coast club, but the Dutch boss has admitted it’s going to be difficult to keep the midfielder at the club long-term. He said recently:

“Keeping Morgan here will not be easy. We will have to see what happens.”

The Express claim that Arsenal are now set to table a formal £15m bid for Schneiderlin in January but it’s going to be tough to force Southampton to sell mid-season- particularly as they’re currently sitting third in the table.

If they can maintain their position in the top four until January then I really don’t see them cashing-in, as they have a great chance to push for Champions League qualification given how inconsistent so many top teams have been so far.

Schneiderlin also hinted that he’ll stay where he is until the end of the season after saying last month that he’ll assess his options in the summer.

“A career passes quickly and I want to play for a big club. Today I am at Southampton, it’s going well.

“We’ll see at the end of the season if [a transfer] will happen. If we have qualified for the Champions League, I will make the choice.”

For me, Schneiderlin would be the ideal signing for Arsenal and he’d solve our holding midfield problems for years to come, but sadly I just don’t see a deal being done in January.

The problem is, do we wait until the summer to potentially land him, or move on to another target this winter? I do think he’s worth waiting for but with the likes of Liverpool, United and Spurs also interested, there’s no guarantee we’ll win the race for his signature at the end of the season anyway, so we could hang around for nothing.

It’s going to be interesting to see what Wenger does in January but I have a feeling that if the likes of Schneiderlin and Khedira aren’t available, then he’ll bring in a short-term stop-gap signing similar to Kallstrom last year and wait for his top targets in the summer.

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