Arsenal Closing In On Their Transfer Targets

With the World Cup getting close to it's conclusion and Arsenal's players already preparing to start their pre season training it's surely time for the club to close in on their transfer targets. A few players have left the club to make way for the incoming players and the most notable of them is Bacary Sagna. With his departure on a free transfer to City there is a gaping hole in the Arsenal defence and it needs to be filled quickly.

It has to be remembered that Sagna was not only the first choice right back, but he also filled in at centre back too. His ability to do so meant Arsenal got away with having only three centre backs and they will have to buy two players to replace Sagna. There has been plenty of talk about impending arrivals of right backs, but nowhere near as much when it comes to centre backs.

The most recent right back to be linked with Arsenal is Newcastle's Mathieu Debuchey and he could be available at a price which might just tempt Arsenal. For me Sagna is a better defender, but Debuchey offers more going forward. He's keeping Sagna out of the French team at the moment but given a choice I would have Sagna before Debuchey every single time.

Of course it's not a choice as Sagna has chosen to pursue his footballing interests on the City bench with a much heftier wage packet to comfort him. He'll be sorely missed but at least Debuchey has plenty of experience in the Premier League if he is the one to replace him and he would certainly add something to the team going forward. I would be a little worried about his temperament though and he's always likely to lose the plot and get himself sent off. 

In midfield it seems as if Arsenal have identified Arturo Vidal as the player they want to strengthen the team. He looked very good in a classy Chile side in the World Cup and he could be the box to box powerhouse Arsenal are looking for. It won't be easy to pry him away from Juventus though and he will only be sold if Juventus decide to sell him. 

There are plenty of others teams who would be interested in signing Vidal if Juventus do decide to sell and I would imagine it would become a bidding war very quickly. As it is United are said to be chasing his signature and City could quickly become interested if Yaya Toure decides he no longer wants to play for them. I would be surprised if Vidal ended up at Arsenal and they might have a better chance of landing one of their other targets such as Morgan Schneiderlin, Lars Bender or Sami Khedira.

Arsenal have shown an interest in Bender and Khedira before while Schneiderlin seems to be one of many players on the way out of Southampton. All three of them could be good additions to the Arsenal team/squad and it's not easy to know which one would fit in best at the club. Despite both Khedira and Bender having played the game at a higher level than Schneidelin he would still cost as much as he would be coming from an English team and that always pushes the price up.   

It won't be easy to pry Bender from Bayer Leverkusen as he signed a new contract not so long ago and Madrid won't be easily persuaded to part with Khedira. It might be easier to get Schneiderlin with so much change going on at Southampton and a new manager taking the reins too. His cost might be prohibitive but it does look like the club are looking for a defensive midfielder and all three of those players fit the bill. At a push I think Bender might be the one to suit Arsenal best, but he could be the hardest of all of them to sign.

In an attacking role it looks as if Arsenal could be closing in on a deal for Alexis Sanchez and it would be great to see him sign for the club. He's an exceptional talent and could be the attacking player the team needs to push even harder on all fronts next season. Arsenal aren't the only team after Sanchez though and I won't believe he's an Arsenal player until I see a photo of him with an Arsenal shirt and the news is confirmed on the official club site. 

If the reports are to be believed Liverpool wanted him as a makeweight in the deal which will send Luis Suarez to Barcelona, but Sanchez wasn't keen on the move. Juventus are said to be keen too and despite so many supposed "in the knows" claiming the deal is done he's still not an Arsenal player yet. With a new kit provided by a new manafacturer about to be launched it would make perfect sense for such a big signing to be unveiled as the first signing in the Puma kit.

I can only dream at the prospect of Sanchez and Theo Walcott running through on passes played by Mesut Ozil. Of course us Arsenal fans have been here before and usually had our hopes dashed, but the tide might have turned with the Ozil purchase last summer. Hopefully Sanchez will arrive and help Arsenal to play some really exciting attacking football next season.

At the moment the Debuchey deal looks very close to being done and the Sanchez one could possibly follow it very quickly. I'm not so sure whether the deals for any of the other three will follow but I wouldn't be disappointed if any one of the three signed. There's still a long way to go to the end of the transfer window, but it looks like Arsenal are gearing up to get some signings in well before deadline day.

That's it for today.

See you tomorrow.