Doesn’t it seem like an eternity since the North London Derby now with our Arsenal supporters itching to get back to the bread and butter of the Premier League.
Sitting joint top of the table right now alongside Manchester City points wise, Gunners fans can be very pleased with their efforts this campaign so far but with their annual injury crisis striking yet again in recent weeks, many are expecting this to derail Arsene Wenger’s team over the coming months.
It’s a frustrating tale for Gooners who were all preaching that Wenger signed some more outfield talent to compensate for probable losses during the season but the stubborn Frenchman only plumped for Petr Cech as we know.
While everything is still relatively rosy in the league at the moment, injuries to the likes of Alexis Sanchez, Francis Coquelin or Olivier Giroud could really harm Arsenal’s prospects.
Of course, the January transfer window isn’t too far away and additions could be made then to bolster the ranks but the New Year isn’t always the best time to buy with inflated fees and we all know what Wenger thinks of them!
Nevertheless, one man who has been strongly linked with an Emirates Stadium switch of late is Napoli’s naturalised Italian defensive midfielder Jorginho who has been impressing in Serie A this season.
Rated at around £22 million, The Mirror claim the player has already been scouted by the Gunners, fuelling speculation that he could move to North London as early as January.
If this was to prove the case, who else may be joining him as a Gooner in the winter window?
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Click on the image below to reveal the five players who could follow Jorginho to Arsenal in January.
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Daniele Rugani
Rumoured to be Arsenal’s latest top target for the January transfer window according to The Independent among other publications, Daniele Rugani is a highly-rated Italian Under-21 international who Juventus secured the full rights for in the summer.
Despite this, Rugani is yet to make an appearance in Serie A this season and his task isn’t an easy one with the experienced trio of Leonardo Bonucci, Andrea Barzagli and Giorgio Chiellini all ahead of him in the pecking order right now.
The Independent who reference Italian-based reports claim Manchester United and Napoli are also in the race for the young Italian but with Per Mertesacker not getting any younger and Calum Chambers probably in need of a loan spell to regain his confidence, a swoop for Rugani would be welcomed at Emirates Stadium.
Michy Batshuayi
Currently on a hot streak in France with Ligue 1 giants Marseille, Michy Batshuayi has already scored eight league goals this term, compensating for the loss of the likes of Andre-Pierre Gignac and Dimitri Payet in the summer.
Unsurprisingly, half of Europe have been alerted to the Belgian international’s services as a result and the latest from Metro is that Chelsea are now keen on beating Arsenal to his talents.
We saw in the summer that landing top quality forwards was a tough task, particularly for both Manchester United and Arsenal so with Batshuayi in red hot form right now, he won’t come cheap.
Arsenal desperately could do with another striker in their ranks with only Theo Walcott and Olivir Giroud to call on this term but if they are to add Batshuayi, they’ll have to pay top dollar.
Marseille president Labrune Vincent has already come out and claimed: “Any club interested in having Michy Batshuayi services will have to pay 35 million euros (£24.5m).”
In fairness, this seems like the going rate for anybody who has been half decent for five minutes nowadays but we know how stringent Arsene Wenger is with his money!
Alex Grimaldo
A few days ago now, The Mirror claimed Arsenal were interested in acquiring yet another young player from Barcelona’s La Masia ranks.
This time, it is not Sergi Samper but rather Alex Grimaldo who has been turning heads in North London with the publication claiming the Gunners are in pole position to sign the 20-year-old Barcelona B star.
Like the formerly linked Samper, Grimaldo faces an uphill battle getting into Luis Enrique’s star studded first team any time soon and with Barcelona B relegated from the Spanish second division last term, plying his trade in the third tier isn’t really what the player had in mind for this stage of his development.
Having of course seen Cesc Fabregas and Hector Bellerin make the move from Catalonia, Arsenal are building a good reputation for developing talent sourced from the Camp Nou and perhaps this left back could be the next although Carl Jenkinson would have something to say about his signature we imagine!
Leroy Sane
One of the most in-demand youngsters in Europe right now is Schalke’s Leroy Sane who has only just made his full senior international debut with Germany recently.
The latest whizzkid on the block in Gelsenkirchen following both Max Meyer and Julian Draxler, the 19-year-old was subject of a failed £11 million bid from Liverpool in the summer.
With his stock rising by the day it seems, we reckon it’ll take far more than that to lure him away from the Veltins Arena but Arsenal may continue to find it tough in this particular pursuit with the Daily Star claiming Liverpool are still hell bent on resurrecting a deal.
In all honesty, Arsenal might have had to lose Joel Campbell to make a deal possible with the Gunners well stocked in the wide areas but with Arsene Wenger enjoying adding attack-minded players, you never know with Sane being capable of playing up top too.
Jese
Some of our resident Arsenal fans are tutting at the figure quoted in Metro regarding Jese’s services but the Real Madrid man is currently being linked with a £21 million move to Emirates Stadium.
Having received plenty of chances in Real Madrid’s first team now, Jese is good in flashes but hasn’t shown the same promise that Alvaro Morata did but despite this, he’s still rated at over £20 million.
When the likes of Karim Benzema, Gareth Bale and Cristiano Ronaldo are all fit, Jese is understandably a bench player and with Arsenal in need of striking reinforcements, a move makes sense.
In all honesty, Jese might find himself in the same situation at Emirates Stadium behind both Theo Walcott and Olivier Giroud when everybody is fit but with Arsenal’s injury crisis being that much worse than elsewhere it seems, some punters claim Jese would get plenty of opportunities, make no mistake about that!
