The priority for Arsenal in the January transfer window is likely to be for a central defender, as the recent injury problems of Laurent Koscielny have highlighted just how thin the Arsenal squad is in the defensive area. But many Arsenal fans will be hoping that Arsene Wenger finally accepts that he needs to sign a combative central midfielder to strengthen the spine of the team as well.
And that player could well be the France and PSG star Yohan Cabaye, according to Olivier Bernard, who also played for France as well as Cabaye’s former team Newcastle. The former Magpie wrote in his column for local paper the Chronicle that he is certain that the midfielder will leave his current club and return to the Premier League in January, after failing to force his way into the French champions’ starting XI on a regular enough basis to guarantee him a place in the France national team.
And Cabaye’s fellow Frenchman seems to think that Arsenal is the most likely destination for Cabaye, who Arsene Wenger has already tried to sign once, while he was playing for Newcastle.
Bernard wrote, “Yohan did not join PSG with any guarantees that he would be starting games and the problem for him is that when he has been playing or starting, he’s been struggling to really make the sort of impact that he made with Newcastle.
“He will be back in England in January, absolutely no doubt. He will come back to the Premier League and he will already be looking for a club to join that will get him the games that he needs to guarantee him a place in the France squad.
“Will that be with Newcastle? Well you can never rule anything out in football, but they will be very lucky to get him in January. If they do it will probably mean that there isn’t an offer from one of the clubs that is playing in the Champions League.
“He loved his time here and I’m sure he wouldn’t rule it out completely – but I think it will be to go somewhere like Arsenal or even Liverpool, two teams that probably need a player who can play in that role that he occupies.
“Yohan is better suited to the English game than the French game. I know he came to Newcastle with a good reputation but if I am going to be brutally honest, I will say that he was never really all that good in France.
“He was a big player in the league but his performances were between average and above average most of the time. He was good but not great. The game in France doesn’t really suit him the same way that the game in the Premier League does, and that’s why he is not playing for PSG.
“Think about the things that Yohan is really good at: he’s very hard when he needs to be and he’s a clever player when he’s on the ball. I think that he suits the quicker tempo of the English game where he can make a run, he can attack the box and he can take a chance because defences don’t play quite the same way in France.”
So what do you think, Gooners, is it time for Wenger to try again for Cabaye and is he the right player to fix our defensive midfield problems?