It feels much better to be an Arsenal supporter in the Football Transfer Tavern this evening after Arsene Wenger’s side kept their Champions League qualification hopes alive with a comfortable 3-0 home victory over Dinamo Zagreb last night.
The Gunners now travel to Athens in two weeks’ time knowing that they need to overcome Olympiakos by two clear goals to progress to the knock-out phase.
In what is going to be an absolute cauldron-like atmosphere as is usually the case in Greece, it will be no easy feat for Arsenal but their manager and fans are upbeat again regarding the club’s prospects.
It will be a case of do or die in Piraeus because otherwise, Arsenal will fall into the Europa League (which they are now guaranteed following last night’s win) and with all due respect to that competition, the majority of Arsenal supporters would rather the club remained in the superior European competition.
Dominating the headlines pre-Zagreb and even after has been the cruel injury to Francis Coquelin at West Bromwich Albion with the influential Frenchman set to miss at least two months of the campaign.
Naturally, talk in the tavern has turned to who Wenger might target in January to replace the former Charlton Athletic loanee although like he usually does, the Arsenal boss has already alluded to the fact Mathieu Flamini and Calum Chambers can do a job in his position.
According to today’s Metro, the publication claim Arsene Wenger is keen on strengthening his attacking ranks in January however with a bid for Inter Milan’s Mauro Icardi in the pipeline.
If this turned out to be true, who else could be following the Nerazzurri captain to Emirates Stadium?
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Click on the image below to reveal the five players who could follow Mauro Icardi to Arsenal in January.
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Lars Bender
To be quite honest with you, a lot of our Arsenal fans in the tavern are rolling their eyes at this particular rumour given the fact that Lars Bender always seems to be the transfer target spoken about when the going gets tough for the Gunners but Metro have linked him with a January switch again today.
Undoubtedly a class act in the holding role for Bayer Leverkusen, Bender is used to competing at the sharp end of the Bundesliga but the feeling amongst experts is that he should be testing himself at more of a European superpower than Bayer.
Of course, there is no smoke without fire in the transfer market and with Bender being such a long-term target of Arsenal, who knows, perhaps Arsene Wenger may surprise everybody by sanctioning a January bid for the German international.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang
Ok, maybe we’re cheating because Icardi and Aubameyang wouldn’t arrive in a single window but back on November 19th, talkSPORT reported that Borussia Dortmund have named their price for star striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
Probably as important for the Signal Iduna Park outfit nowadays as Robert Lewandowski was before him, the asking price placed on the Gabon international’s head is £42 million.
While this is of course Mesut Ozil-level money for Arsenal, Aubameyang is without doubt one of the best strikers in Europe right now and if Arsene Wenger really wants to make a statement, why not pay Dortmund what they want in this case?
Dortmund are not the easiest club to negotiate transfers with and we’re under no illusions that they’ll give Aubameyang up without a fight but if Wenger could turn a few heads with a huge swoop such as this in January, it would definitely give the Gunners a second wind in their pursuit of the Premier League title.
William Carvalho
Alongside the aforementioned Lars Bender, the other long-term Arsenal target being linked with a January switch again is Sporting Lisbon’s outstanding defensive midfielder William Carvalho.
Like Aubameyang, Carvalho is the jewel in the crown at his current club and would prove incredibly difficult to sign but Wenger has already hinted that he may not be so reluctant this time in the winter window.
That’s the thing with Arsenal in transfer windows; they seem to be in the mix for so many players but lacking that aggressiveness to get deals over the line.
We saw in the summer that Manchester City were told Kevin De Bruyne wasn’t for sale from Wolfsburg multiple times and what did the Citizens end up doing? They signed him!
Daniele Rugani
We’ve been getting more used to hearing Daniele Rugani’s name in the tavern of late with the Italian Under-21 international heavily linked with a winter switch to either Arsenal or Manchester United.
Yet to make a single appearance in Serie A for the Old Lady despite being brought outright as a highly-rated young player in Serie A in the summer, Rugani is firmly behind Giorgio Chiellini, Leonardo Bonucci and Andrea Barzagli in the defensive pecking order right now.
Clubcall have been the latest source to have linked the Italian with a Gunners switch claiming as we all know that Arsenal’s defence could be in need of a little extra solidity with Calum Chambers and Gabriel Paulista having looked shaky when deputising for the equally shaky at times Per Mertesacker so far this term.
Victor Wanyama
Yet to be mentioned as a viable January transfer window solution by the press, it’s probably only a matter of time before Victor Wanyama’s name circulates again.
The Southampton man is one of those players who is usually looked upon with the highest regard by rival fans and given his strength and physical presence, Arsenal fans gravitate to him given the fact the Gunners have lacked a huge, tough tackling midfielder for some time.
Like most of the above targets, Wanyama will be incredibly difficult to poach from Saints in January with the south coast club likely to hold any potential suitors to ransom but it might be worth at least enquiring.
Ultimately, Southampton are a selling club and again, this one will rely upon how aggressive Arsenal are if they decide to officially pursue a deal for the Kenya international.
