It appears that the Arsenal transfer rumours connecting the club with a summer swoop for the Juventus and Chile midfield warrior Arturo Vidal were either exaggerated or just wrong in the first place, unless Arsene Wenger has had a recent change of mind, maybe due to his drink-driving antics?
While just a few days ago there were reports in the media suggesting that the Gunners had all but snapped up the 28-year old team mate of our star man Alexis Sanchez, it now seems that the football journos were just jumping on the bandwagon and getting themselves in a transfer rumour frenzy. The more trustworthy source of The Telegraph has reported that any plans Arsenal had for Vidal are now over.
The paper suggests that the form of Coquelin is one factor in this, but another is that Vidal is more of a box to box player and with Ramsey, Cazorla, Wilshere, Rosicky and the Ox already at the club, Arsenal do not need Vidal. So a lot of us are thinking that Wenger is not going to sign a central midfielder, especially after the media also reported that Morgan Schneiderlin was poised with pen in hand over a contract to play for Man United.
Not so according to a report in The Mirror in which the Southampton boss Ronald Koeman declares that his club are nowhere near any agreement with United.
He said, “We have the situation with Morgan Schneiderlin, we will have to wait what will happen. Until now, we have not a serious bid for him from Man United.
“We will wait, but OK – that’s business that normally starts from now. It’s no problem – it’s the first day.”
So there is plenty of time for Wenger to get in on the act and sign Schneiderlin as proper competition or cover for Coquelin. The question is, will he?