With the January transfer window now open for business we’ll be keeping you up-to-date with all the latest transfer gossip. Today, more on the future of David Villa.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger is ready to step up his interest in David Villa as he looks to try and sign the Barcelona striker before the transfer window closes on Thursday night, according to the Metro.

The report claims Wenger wants to add the 31-year-old to his strike options but isn’t prepared to pay the £10m it would take to persuade Barcelona into considering a deal.

The boss admitted we are short up front after Saturday’s 3-2 win over Brighton but insists it’s not going to be easy to find a striker good enough to play for Arsenal. When asked if he needed to sign a striker this week, Wenger is quoted by the Metro as saying:

‘Quality-wise, no. But number-wise we are maybe a bit short.

‘It will not be easy, though, because you do not find strikers who are good enough to play for us on the street.’

The irony is that a striker remains the priority despite the fact we’ve scored eight goals in our last two games. Theo Walcott, Olivier Giroud and Lukas Podolski have all shown their ability in front of goal recently but I still think it’s clear we need to sign another forward before the window slams shut. We have absolutely no back-up options on the bench and if Giroud and/or Walcott picked up an injury during the second half of the season, we’d be screwed.

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I would love to see Villa come to Arsenal this week. His movement and finishing is second to none and I feel he could make a real difference for us. As usual, it seems money could prove to be the stumbling block but you need to pay for quality players and if the £10m the Metro quote is accurate, I think it would prove to be a bargain.

Will we manage to pull it off? Not long to wait now until we find out. The window closes on Thursday night and I hope it’s going to be a busy week for Arsenal.

Would you like to see David Villa come to Arsenal? Get involved in the comments section below.

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