Arsenal have been heavily linked with a variety of central midfielders both in the latter stages of the summer transfer window and as January approaches. Mikel Arteta attempted to solve any problems in midfield by poaching Aston Villa's Douglas Luiz on deadline day but saw three bids rejected.
The panic move for the Brazilian midfielder came after Thomas Partey and Mohamed Elneny suffered potential long-term injuries at the exact same time, but Villa held firm and have since tied down Luiz to a new long-term contract.
Despite being unable to add another midfielder to their squad, Arteta's side have shot to the top of the Premier League table winning 10 of their 12 matches with Granit Xhaka and Partey starring in a midfield duo.
