Arsenal To Make Shock Summer Move For Man City Midfielder

The January transfer window may have slammed shut but clubs will still be working hard behind the scenes at identifying targets for the summer, so we’ll bring you all the latest news, gossip and rumours. Today, Gooner Mac brings us news of Arsenal’s interest in Gareth Barry.

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger is planning to make a surprise move for on-loan Manchester City midfielder Gareth Barry at the end of the season, according to the Express.

The report claims that Wenger tried to sign the 32-year-old on loan last summer but City pulled the plug as they didn’t want to do business with a potential title rival.

Barry eventually joined Everton on a season-long loan deal and has been in outstanding form at the heart of the Toffees midfield this campaign, with some even calling for a recall to the England national team set-up.

Roberto Martinez has been so impressed by Barry’s form that he tried to make the move permanent in January but the former Aston Villa man apparently refused to go through with the deal after making it clear he wanted to keep his options open ahead of becoming a free agent at the end of the season.

The Express suggest that as well as trying to splash out on big names like Julian Draxler, Arsene Wenger also plans to make a move for Barry as he feels the experienced midfielder can still do a job in the center of the park and would be a cheap option as he won’t command a transfer fee.

While Barry has certainly proved a few doubters wrong with his performances this year for Everton, I’m not sure he’s the type of signing many Arsenal fans have in mind for this summer.

Aaron Ramsey’s absence has highlighted that we lack pace and energy in midfield and this is surely going to be Mikel Arteta’s final season as a first team regular, as his legs are gone and he’s too pedestrian to cope in the big games.

I’d suggest that we need to bring in an athletic ball-winner this summer, and Barry hardly fits the bill as he’s probably got less pace than Arteta and is a year older.  Plus, the fans are expecting some serious money to be spent this summer following the announcement of the PUMA kit deal and it would send out the wrong message if Wenger was to penny-pinch and go for a free option instead of spending the money to buy a long-term solution.

So for that reason, I hope this report proves to be wide of the mark and the boss has his eye on some different midfield targets this summer.

READ MORE –>Arsenal transfer news

Do you think Barry would be a good signing? Who would you like the boss to buy? Share your views below.