Arsenal Transfer News: Gunners To Miss Out On £9.5m Capoue?

With the summer transfer window in full swing, Football Talk will be keeping you up-to-date with all the latest transfer news throughout the summer. Today, Arsenal face a fight with Barcelona to land Etienne Capoue.

Arsenal will have to fight off competition from Barcelona to land £9.5m-rated Toulouse midfielder Etienne Capoue, according to talkSPORT.

The report claims that Gunners manager Arsene Wenger has identified Capoue as a transfer target after going cold on Rennes ace Yann M’Vila due to the players disciplinary issues.

However, the Frenchman may have to do battle with Spanish giants Barcelona after new boss Tito Vilanova identified both Capoue and M’Vila as possible replacements for Seydou Keita, who left the Nou Camp to join Chinese side Dalian Aerbin this summer.

Barca have limited finds available to strengthen the squad this summer and could therefore move for Capoue as he will cost a lot less that M’Vila, who is rated at around £20m by his club.

This will not go down well in north London as Wenger is desperate to add a defensive-minded midfielder to his squad this summer and the 23-year-old was high on the Arsenal supremos wish list.

Football Talk Verdict

Many Arsenal fans still hope that Wenger can do a deal for M’Vila but if reports are accurate and we’ve pulled out of the race to sign the Rennes enforcer, then Capoue would be a good alternative.

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The problem now is that Barcelona have their eye on the pair and it’s going to be difficult to compete with the Catalans. The good news is they won’t sign both of them, so we may have to target the one Barca don’t sign!

Who would you like Wenger to sign? M’Vila or Capoue? Get involved in the comments section.