Latest Developments On Arsenal Pursuit Of Yohan Cabaye

As we enter the final week of the summer transfer window Arsenal fans are still waiting to see any significant arrivals at the Emirates. Here, Arsenal blogger Gooner Daily gives us the latest developments on their pursuit of Yoham Cabaye.

Following the impressive victory against Fulham, Arsenal have been in the spotlight yet again, as the fans still expect the club to delve into the transfer market to sign quality players before the window shuts. This has been a very painful summer to say the least, as the Gunners have missed out on a whole host of transfer targets that would have contributed to the team’s cause this season.

The aftermath of the Aston Villa debacle was unbearable as the fans voiced their frustrations at the club’s inactivity in the market despite the fact Arsene Wenger has ample resources available. Many have expected Wenger to go on a trolley dash to sign some players and the latest transfer target is Newcastle’s midfield maestro, Yohan Cabaye.

Some fans believe that Arsenal can do a whole lot better than swooping for the French midfielder, as his style of play has some similarities to Mikel Arteta and Aaron Ramsey – a player in a very rich vein of form. Lukasz Fabianski has lauded the midfielder’s vast improvement in recent weeks and Wenger has followed suit as well.

The Gunners had an initial £10m bid that was swiftly rejected (via BBC Sport) by the Newcastle hierarchy, and it has been expected that the Gunners were going to at least make an improved bid for the midfielder after director of football Joe Kinnear confirmed they had told us the price they expect for the play.

The Frenchman has also decided to make things untenable at St. Jame’s Park as he has refused for play for the Magpies in their opening games in the Premier League. Cabaye is hell-bent on playing Champions League football this season in his bid to be a vital part of France’s World Cup squad this summer.

His manager, Alan Pardew, is clearly not happy with the situation, but he wants it to be resolved as quickly as possible,

“The situation’s quite simple, really. We need to resolve this and get ourselves in a position where if he stays – great – and if he doesn’t, then we get someone equally as good.

”That is probably where we’re at, and I don’t really want to say any more than that.” Pardew told Sky Sports

It’s glaring that Cabaye is probably causing some disruptions in the dressing room, so the sooner they get him off their books and find an ideal replacement, the better for everyone at Newcastle. The million dollar question would be – if Arsenal breaks the bank for a player like Cabaye, who will drop out to make room for him? Will Arteta fail to get back into the team on his return to full fitness or would Ramsey be sacrificed to allow Cabaye play alongside Arteta?

This statistical analysis from Think Football juxtaposed between Cabaye and Arsenal’s current options in central midfield, Aaron Ramsey, Jack Wilshere and Mikel Arteta. The Frenchman’s passing accuracy was lower than that of his counterparts but his tackles and interceptions per game were on par with Mikel Arteta.

With the Spaniard out for a while, Cabaye would be a perfect fit to play alongside Ramsey in midfield as he’s more or less an Arteta-esque prototype and he would offer the Gunners a good outlet with set pieces, thereby relieving the likes of Theo Walcott from taking dead balls.

However, there could be a cause for concern as the Metro reports that Paris St. Germain plans to hijack the deal with a £17m offer for the Frenchman. This summer, Arsenal have lost out on many transfer targets after other European clubs showed keen interest on those players and of course, offered higher bids than the Gunners.

The Mirror reports that Arsenal are planning to make a fresh bid of £20m for Cabaye. Arsenal can certainly afford to splash such cash on the midfielder but many fans have been casting their doubts on whether the player is worth that kind of money. The transfer market has been very inflated in recent times and the Premier League has seen some astronomical transfer fees splurged so a £20m move for a Newcastle midfielder won’t raise any eyebrows, but is he worth it? I’m not so sure.

I’ll keep you updated as the situation develops and hopefully we see a new recruit before the transfer deadline day reaches, because Arsenal are running out of time.

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This post was originally published on Gooner Daily – you can check out their Facebook page here.