It feels like the battle in the transfer window is never over for Arsenal. The discussions surrounding Mykhaylo Mudryk go on having beaten away Chelsea’ reported interest whilst the Blues successfully snapped up Joao Felix who was said to be a target of the Gunners.
Now to midfield and Arsenal are open to strengthening the area this winter if the right opportunity becomes available football.london understands. Mikel Arteta has stood firm on his position regarding the necessity and exclusivity of quality and quality only that will come through the club’s doors.
There is one potential candidate who certainly fulfils this but Arsenal again face competition from a European rival from their recent past to secure it. According to Il Messaggero via Calciomercato, Lazio are prepared to allow Sergej Milinkovic-Savic leave on a loan deal for just £8.8million with a £35.5million obligatory purchase clause for the summer but the Gunners face competition from Juventus.
READ MORE: Mykhaylo Mudryk to Arsenal transfer delay explained as Shakhtar star's dream move drags on
A deal for this structure, if true, would be perfect for the Gunners’ financial situation this January. The bulk of the funds are being directed toward the permanent signing of Mudryk, as talks continue, but with figures as high as €100million (£88.4million) being talked about, any other business would need to be considerably less expensive.
With Arsenal top of the table, five points clear of Manchester City, qualification for next season’s Champions League seems a case of if not when. FiveThirtyEight’s prediction algorithm has the Gunners at a 96% likelihood of being in the top four come the end of the season.
It's worth mentioning the Gunners remain favourites for the Europa League too, which has a reward for its winner of a place in pot 1 of next season’s elite European competition. Arsenal restart their European campaign in March after one of Manchester United or Barcelona would have been eliminated in their play-off ties to reach the last 16.
With this in mind, being able to commit part of a summer investment early would be feasible. Milinkovic-Savic has become known as one of the most high-quality and versatile midfielders in Europe.
Operating in any of the three central midfield roles. Offensively, defensively and in a box-to-box style way too.
Adding the Serbian international into the group would bring with it a significant boost of quality and competition to the squad. With Granit Xhaka and Thomas Partey starting at present, the options behind them represent a significant drop.
Mikel Arteta told football.london that it was his job to tackle this when asked about the difference between his starting and rotational midfielders after the disappointing displays against Oxford United in the FA Cup. One way to tackle this would certainly be by using the market and Milinkovic-Savic would be a serious upgrade on many current options.
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