In Capital One Cup action against Sheffield Wednesday in just 45 minutes’ time, Arsenal supporters in the Football Transfer Tavern are just getting their rounds in ahead of the televised fixture at Hillsborough.
In what will probably be a much changed Gunners starting eleven with Arsene Wenger’s primary focus on the Premier League and a Champions League salvage job right now, Arsenal will still be expected to win against a side they haven’t played against for an incredibly long time.
Carlos Carvalhal’s Owls will be hoping they can cause the upset of the round and everybody connected with the Gunners will be hoping that their second string can get the job done in normal time.
Our Gunners contingent have been in incredibly buoyant spirits of late, having stepped their season up a notch in recent weeks, firstly emphatically beating Manchester United 3-0 ahead of a notable 2-0 triumph over Bayern Munich in the Champions League.
Add Premier League victories over both Watford and Everton into the mix and Arsene Wenger’s men are joint top of the table right now alongside Manchester City and if they’re still there of thereabouts in January, our Arsenal fans will be urging Wenger to spend to finally get the Gunners over the line.
One man who the Daily Star claimed may be back on Arsenal’s radar earlier was Sevilla’s Grzegorz Krychowiak who could be a perfect foil for Francis Coquelin in defensive midfield.
That said, later on today, fresher reports from The Express claimed Sevilla are looking to tie the Polish international down to a new deal very soon so if the Gunners do have solid designs on signing him, they’ll have to move quick.
Nevertheless, we’ve devised a list of five players who may well end up following Krychowiak to Emirates Stadium in the January transfer window.
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Click on the image below to reveal the five players who could follow Grzegorz Krychowiak to Arsenal in January.
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Aleksandr Kokorin
Emerging as a summer transfer deadline day target for Arsenal, Russian international striker Aleksandr Kokorin ended up staying at Dynamo Moscow but earlier this month, news of a potential revived swoop surfaced once again.
In these reports, it was claimed Arsene Wenger fancied a loan swoop for the lesser known striker in the summer but Dynamo weren’t interested in such an agreement but now, the player’s agent has reportedly claimed a deal could still be done.
With Moscow not interested in a loan, perhaps Arsenal may have to makes their intentions permanent in the New Year but many of our Gooners by the bar are wary with Russian-based players being an unknown quantity in the main.
In Andrey Arshavin, Arsenal previously had a player who started incredibly well before fading badly and if the Gunners are in touch of first place come the New Year, they’d like to see Wenger sign somebody with a bit more experience in a top league than Kokorin.
Adriano Bertaccini
How many times in the past have Arsenal been linked with the likes of Karim Benzema only for Arsene Wenger to pull out a swoop for a teenage wonderkid instead?
The Gunners boss could easily sign nobody of note in the January transfer window, in turn paying further faith to his current crop who have served him well for the most part this term.
If so, he may consider a swoop for a star of tomorrow rather than concentrating on the first team and one man or should we say boy who fits this category of late is Genk’s 15-year-old striker Adrian Bertaccini.
Scoring an incredible 42 goals for Genk’s Under-16 side last season, Bertaccini has drew interest from Manchester City and Liverpool too.
Given the Gunners have reinvested in their academy which has failed them in recent years via the signings of Yassin Fortune, Ismael Bennacer and Jeff Reine-Adelaide in the summer, perhaps they could move for Bertaccini next to further add some flair to the academy ranks.
Gonzalo Higuain
You thought you heard the last of Arsenal being interested in Napoli’s Gonzalo Higuain but think again with The Mirror claiming that Arsene Wenger is still potentially interested in acquiring the Argentine striker in the next few transfer windows.
With the Gunners still needing to cough up an incredible £68 million to match Pipita’s release clause, most Gooners by the bar are shaking their heads at these reports but if Arsenal are still within reach of the top come January, their fans will be demanding they spend the money they didn’t spend in the summer in order to drag the club over the finishing line.
Higuain has proved he’s a class act and a clinical finisher in the past but his stock has fallen in recent times with the player fluffing his lines in both the World Cup Final and Copa America Final.
It’s just a shame for Arsenal fans that Napoli’s asking price doesn’t seem to match this comedown!
Sergi Samper
A young player Arsenal have admired for some time is Barcelona B starlet Sergi Samper who has already appeared a few times for Barcelona’s first team, yet faces the incredibly difficult prospect of staying there long-term.
If Arsenal did manage to get their hands on Krychowiak, you’d imagine a swoop for Samper would then be put off but given Sevilla are looking to tie down the Pole in the coming days, Arsene Wenger may well revisit his interest in this Spanish ace.
A defensive midfielder by trade, Metro reported earlier this month that the player would be willing to accept a contract offer by the Gunners.
As mentioned before, Samper faces an incredibly difficult prospect trying to break into Luis Enrique’s first team with even the likes of Rafinha and Gerard ahead of him in the pecking order right now so a move to Arsenal who have nurtured Cesc Fabregas and Hector Bellerin seems ideal on his part.
What’s more, Arsenal would inherit somebody who is more younger and more mobile than Francis Coquelin’s current back-ups in Mikel Arteta and Mathieu Flamini.
Nolito
A player who we have heard an awful lot about in a short space of time is Celta Vigo’s Nolito who has pretty much dominated the transfer headlines ever since the summer window shut back on September 1st.
Having registered seven La Liga goals already this term, the Spanish international has started wherer he finished off last term and his form hasn’t gone unnoticed with the player’s former club Barcelona even linked with a move to re-sign him for a second spell.
That move is unlikely according to Metro however who earlier this month claimed Arsenal have the advantage in signing the player due to Barcelona being interested in Paris Saint-Germain’s Ezequiel Lavezzi instead.
That said, the same reports claim the player is settled at Celta Vigo so a January swoop for him would rely on Arsenal being aggressive in the market which in all fairness hasn’t been the case in the past.
