As the end of January approaches that of course means a close to the transfer window is near. Arsenal find themselves in a strong position for a late title challenge, but know that it’s going to take all they’ve got to overhaul the current leaders, Chelsea. A few signings would’ve been helpful to boost the team spirit, improve quality and bring a breath of fresh air to the team; but so far we only have Cohen Brammel to add to our setup, and he’s unlikely to break into the first team.
It means it has been yet another disappointing transfer window for Arsenal and boss, Arsene Wenger. Nothing is ever expected from Le Prof during the January transfer window, with Wenger notorious for not being a fan of the mid-season market. With a few more days to go, he announced that the Gunners are not on the verge of signing anyone, so don’t expect any more incomers this season.
Despite this, Arsenal remain a big focus in the media for transfer speculation. Today’s rumour doing the rounds is that despite Alexis remaining outwardly content that he wishes to be at Arsenal, those rumours that he won’t sign a new contract just will not go away. This means that the media is linking us with numerous potential replacements for the Chilean, many of which we have all heard about before.
It is being suggested in the tabloids today that Arsene Wenger remains active on his search for wingers and identifies Borussia Dortmund’s Marco Reus as a priority target. Reus is known to be a fan of Arsenal and idolises former player Tomas Rosicky, so I’m sure the German would jump at the chance if given the opportunity to join Arsenal.
The rumour suggests that Arsenal have prepared a £51 million fee for Reus, which in my opinion isn’t too much off the player’s quality, in this current explosive market. However my only concern is the player’s disastrous injury record, which of course makes such an amount of money, a big risk for the Gunners.
Reus finds himself out of the Dortmund team for a lot of the time and has persistently struggled with long term injuries for the past few seasons. Given Arsenal’s record with injuries I cannot see that situation becoming any better, let alone potentially worse.
At £51 million it would therefore be a massive risk to take on a player whom may spend the majority of the time on the sidelines, but of course the player does show immense quality when fully fit.
Is Reus a potential replacement for Alexis, or should Wenger be keeping tabs on him anyway?
By AH