Arsenal Miss Out As Key Target Undergoes Man Utd Medical Ahead Of £24m Move

With the summer transfer window finally open for business, managers are working hard trying to strengthen their squads ahead of next season so we’ll bring you all the news and gossip. Today, Man Utd close in on Morgan Schneiderlin….

One of this summers long-running transfer sagas is coming to a close after Morgan Schneiderlin underwent a medical with Manchester United on Sunday night ahead of a £24m move from Southampton, according to the Mirror.

Schneiderlin became one of the most talked-about players in the summer window after he was quoted in the Daily Mail last month as saying he wanted to join another Premier League team who competes in the Champions League.

Arsenal emerged as the early front-runners for his signature with the Independent reporting in late June that bookmakers were forced to slash their odds on Schneiderlin joining the Gunners to just 1/2.

Arsene Wenger’s interest then cooled as he was unprepared to meet Southampton’s hefty asking price and this opened the door for Man Utd with the Mirror reporting earlier this month that the Red Devils had agreed personal terms with the midfielder following talks with his agent in Paris.

A fee remained a sticking point but after seeing their opening £20m bid rejected, it looks like there has been a breakthrough as the Mirror are one of several newspapers who claim that Schneiderlin arrived at United’s training complex on Sunday night to undergo a medical.

The paper states that the 25-year-old will sign a four-year contract with United paying Southampton £24m for his services, and the deal is expected to be wrapped-up in time for Schneiderlin to fly out with his new team-mates on their pre-season tour of the US this afternoon.

It rounds-off what’s been a hectic few days for United with Matteo Darmian’s arrival from Torino quickly followed by Bastian Schweinsteiger with the German midfielder arriving on Saturday to complete his move from Bayern Munich.

Schneiderlin is now set to follow the duo to become United’s fourth major signing of the summer and it really looks like Louis van Gaal is building a squad capable of winning the title next season.

The club now have plenty of options in midfield and have solved their right-back problem, so I think all they need is a striker to replace van Persie, a top class centre-back and a replacement for De Gea when he eventually leaves and they’ll be all set.

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However, I am surprised Arsenal didn’t push harder to sign Schneiderlin as I thought he was a perfect fit for the North Londoners. Francis Coquelin was superb during the second half of last season but they need more competition in the holding midfield department and Schneiderlin would have been ideal.

But Wenger is now going to have to look elsewhere as it looks like the French international is heading to Old Trafford and a deal should be announced over the coming hours.