While there are as always far reaching opinions on Arsenal’s horror show away at Bayern Munich last night, our resident Gooners in the Football Transfer Tavern are all still ordering double measures to cope with the pain of having been mullered…literally!
For some Gooners, they’re still hopeful, admitting they were beaten by the better side while believing that they can achieve two victories over both Dinamo Zagreb and Olympiakos in the final two group games while getting what they need from other results.
For others, given so well Arsenal are currently going in the Premier League, to exit Europe altogether and finish bottom might just be the best thing that could happen to the club with it already proving that injuries are costing the Gunners again and to be battling on all fronts will likely result in more players being missing.
And for the rest, some are even claiming a third-placed finish and entry into the Europa League might be valuable and more winnable given the fact that even if Arsenal find a way to squeeze through the group, they’re going to have to face sides of the calibre of Bayern in the knock-out stages anyway with it being extremely unlikely that the Gunners can go all the way this term.
So with all these opinions swirling around the bar at the moment, we’re trying to sway Arsenal fans’ attentions by talking about transfer targets yet again. After all, that’s what we do here in the tavern, right?
Today, we’ve devised a list of five of the more believable Arsenal transfer rumours right now that might well be taking place in two months’ time.
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Click on the image below to reveal the five Arsenal transfer rumours that could actually happen.
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Jorginho
Despite having watched the Bayern players have the ball like plenty of other Arsenal players last night, Gunners fans should still be thanking their lucky stars that Francis Coquelin has managed to keep himself fit for the season so far.
Behind him in the defensive midfield pecking order are of course the injured Mikel Arteta and Mathieu Flamini but as discussed at length in the summer, these players aren’t reliable enough back-ups to see Arsene Wenger’s side through in a title run-in.
Crying out for the likes of Geoffrey Kondogbia in the summer, Gunners fans saw the player sign for Inter Milan instead and it is still a valid argument that Arsenal could do with an additional defensive midfielder with Krystian Bielik and Glen Kamara still simply players for the Gunners; Under-21 ranks.
So therefore it is refreshing for Gooners to hear via The Telegraph that the agent of Napoli’s top class defensive midfielder Jorginho is playing it very coy over a January Emirates Stadium switch at the moment.
Arsenal scouts were at Napoli’s game against Genoa on Sunday to watch the long-term target and the player’s agent Joao Santos claimed: “If Napoli receive an irrefutable offer for Jorginho in January then it’s normal that we’d make our assessments.”
Anthony Modeste
Remember him?
If you’re a Premier League nerd like us, you’ll remember that Anthony Modeste endured a hugely forgettable loan spell at Blackburn Rovers back in 2012.
So why he is on a five-man shortlist to become a potential new signing for Arsenal in January we hear you cry?
Well, in fairness to the former French Under-21 international, he’s started to rebuild his reputation well in the Bundesliga with Lukas Podolski’s former club FC Koln, striking six goals in nine matches so far this term.
Metro claim Arsenal are keen on bringing the 27-year-old back to these shores in January and while Gunners fans may crave a striker of the calibre of Karim Benzema or Edinson Cavani deep down, how many times in the past before have we seen Arsene Wenger move for an altogether left-field-type signing such as this as an alternative?
Modeste would be a bargain signing compared to the aforementioned duo and who knows, perhaps he could be a surprise package to further help Arsenal across the line in the New Year?
Charly Musonda
One of the stars of Chelsea’s Under-21 ranks right now is Belgian attacking midfielder Charly Musonda who still waits for his competitive first team debut under Jose Mourinho.
Despite having been highly-rated for a long time now, the 19-year-old still hasn’t completed a loan switch in his professional career to date and avoiding the temporary switch to satellite club Vitesse Arnhem so far, perhaps he could play a role for the Blues in the latter part of the season?
Then again, Mourinho only tends to work with a narrow pool of players so Metro have claimed recently that Arsenal could be interested in bringing him across London from west to north in January.
A target for Monaco as well, Musonda is rated at around £10 million despite not having made a first team appearance to date.
Although Arsenal got their hands on Petr Cech in the summer, this would be a harder deal to pull off simply given the fact there was a gentleman’s agreement in place for that transfer whereas here, Mourinho wouldn’t want to give Arsenal any encouragement regarding a potential future star.
Grzegorz Krychowiak
Somebody who would be a huge marquee January addition compared to the other players on this list, everybody knows that Arsenal have been interested in Sevilla’s Grzegorz Krychowiak for some time now.
The Polish international destroyer has earned himself a reputation as one of the best defensive midfield specialists in La Liga and that is no mean feat.
Having slowly become a top rated player after learning his trade in France with Bordeaux, Reims and Nantes, we’ve seen Arsene Wenger pluck the likes of Laurent Koscielny and Olivier Giroud from across the channel after similar experiences.
Somebody who could partner of supplement the work of Francis Coquelin, all the news that has surrounded Krychowiak of late has been around the player signing a new deal at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan.
That said, the same reports also claim the new deal could simply be in order to raise his release clause so that Sevilla earn more money from his sale and to be honest, this is a tactic we’ve seen used more and more in the modern-day game.
Whether a move could take place as early as January is anybody’s guess but if Arsenal are in touching distance of first place come January, a move to bolster the ranks such as this could be hugely effective.
Diego Perotti
We know Arsene Wenger loves his wingers so it comes as absolutely no surprise to see Arsenal linked with another in the shape and form of Genoa’s Argentine wing man Diego Perotti.
The Mirror claim the Gunners have stepped up their approach to land the former Sevilla player in the New Year who like Santi Cazorla, is two footed and is capable of playing on either the left or right wing.
To be honest, with Danny Welbeck to return to the fold, not to mention Theo Walcott and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain before him, some Gooners by the bar are questioning whether Arsenal even need the likes of Perotti but we’re including him on this countdown because Wenger has overstocked areas in the past.
Seemingly only another defensive midfielder and top class striker away from being the total real deal, Wenger likes to collect ball-playing attacking midfielders so perhaps another one in the form of Perotti – albeit versatile – may be added in two months’ time.
