Arsenal may have already sorted out one of the bits of transfer business that will be done when the January transfer window opens in a little over a month. We won’t know until then of course, but one of the players linked with a move to the Emirates to strengthen the central midfield area has now handed in a transfer request at his current club and so is very likely to be moving on in January, according to the Daily Express.
The player in question is the Portuguese international Joao Moutinho, who only joined the French Ligue 1 club Monaco from Porto last summer. It is not as if he is not a regular or even key part of the Monaco team, because the 28=year old has missed just one game for them so far this season and is their top scorer with three goals, including a late equaliser that salvaged a point for Monaco at the weekend.
But Monaco’s spending spree seems to have been a short lived and failed experiment. They have already sold on James Rodriguez and let Falcao join Manchester United and are struggling in the French league and the Champions League. It is pretty rare these days for players to hand in transfer requests as they tend to lose a lot of money in loyalty bonuses and the like, so Moutinho really must be desperate to move as soon as possible.
The report also claims that Arsenal are preparing a £30 million bid for him in order to beat Premier League rivals Man United and Chelsea to the punch as he is seen as the perfect player to take over from our club captain Mikel Arteta. What do you think of this potential transfer Gooners?