For all us Arsenal fans know, Arsene Wenger might not even be thinking about signing a player to strengthen the Gunners in the defensive midfield area when the January transfer window opens. About 99.9 percent of us hope that he is though and the current injuries to Jack Wilshere and Mikel Arteta, coupled with the captain’s age, makes it a lot more likely.
This week, however, the Gunners have been handed a double blow, with two of the players heavily linked with a move to north London seemingly being put out of our reach.
The first of these is the young Portugal international William Carvalho, who was rumoured to be a summer transfer target of Wenger’s. The 22-year old has made no secret about wanting a transfer to the Premier League or Spain’s La Liga, but that will be a lot more difficult, or at least more expensive, as the Evening Standard have reported that his club Sporting Lisbon have placed a release clause of over £35 million in the contract of their young star.
The other player is the Everton and Republic of Ireland star James McCarthy. His club manager Roberto Martinez is not even considering big money for his midfielder, but insisting that McCarthy, who is signed to a long contract, is not going anywhere, in January or any time soon, as a Sky Sports report reveals.
The Everton boss said, “He has got a long-term contract, he was a huge investment and, as I say, I always enjoy seeing good reports on our players.
“I see the interest, or the potential interest, or the good compliments that people pay on James from the outside but James is a player we look forward to seeing in the Everton top for a long, long time.”
Assuming these two players are off the list, who would you like to see Wenger bring to Arsenal?