Despite already signing one central midfielder in the January transfer window, the options for Arsenal in the middle of the pitch were exposed again last weekend as the Frenchman Mathieu Flamini had another one of his off days. He made mistakes defensively and lost his discipline on a number of occasions, which he would have got away with if his finishing was any better.
It just highlighted once more that without Francis Coquelin the Gunners have a problem in the crucial defensive midfield position and it appears that the new signing Mohamed Elneny is more of an all-rounder. So I read with interest the Sky Sports report that claims that Southampton are willing to sell their own midfield warrior Victor Wanyama, as long as we are willing to pay a big transfer fee to get him.
I personally think he would be a great addition to the Arsenal squad and with it looking increasingly as though the playing careers of Flamini and Arteta will not carry on at the club next summer, Wenger will need to add to his midfield and we have long been linked with the combative Kenyan international.
There is a very good reason for us to do the deal now as well, because our next Premier League game is against the Saints and one of the major reasons they inflicted that painful Boxing Day defeat on us at St.Mary’s was the performance of Wanyama. I am not saying we would play him if Coquelin is fit but at least we would not have to play against him.
We need to beat them next Tuesday and we need another DM, so is this opportunity to sign Wanyama too good to ignore?