Transfer News: Arsenal Eye German Attacker | Man Utd Made €25m Midfielder Bid

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, Arsenal are linked with a move for a young German attacker and Manchester reportedly had a €25m midfielder bid rejected last month.

Arsenal eye Arnold

First up and the Mirror are reporting that Arsenal are eyeing a summer move for Wolfsburg’s highly-rated attacking midfielder Maximilian Arnold.

The 19-year-old has been dubbed as the ‘next Mesut Ozil’ and has been earning rave reviews in the Bundesliga this season, so much so that he’s already attracting interest from Italian champions Juventus.  However, it appears he’s also caught the eye of Arsene Wenger with the newspaper suggesting the Frenchman is keeping tabs on the attacker ahead of a potential move at the end of the season.

Arnold has already represented Germany at every youth level and is a regular in the under-21 set up, despite being just 19, and he’s now being tipped as an outsider to make the senior squad for this summers World Cup.

The Mirror claim he’s valued by Wolfsburg at around £8m and the club could be forced to cash in this summer if he doesn’t extend his contract over the next few months, as his current deal expires in 2015.

The Gunners have a growing German contingent with Mesut Ozil joining Lukas Podolski, Per Mertesacker, Serge Gnabry and youngster Thomas Eisfeld at the Emirates last summer so Arnold would certainly be made to feel at home if he does end up making the move to north London.

Whether another attacking midfielder is what they need is another question though. Arsenal already have a number of tricky attacking midfielders in their squad so perhaps the money would be better spent elsewhere.

United bid €25m for Strootman

Next and the Mirror are also reporting that Manchester United failed with an ambitious €25m bid for Roma midfielder Kevin Strootman last month.

The Dutch international only moved to the Giallorossi in the summer from PSV and has been a huge success so far, scoring five goals and picking up five assists to help Roma to second position in the Serie A table.

It seems his impressive form caught the eye of United boss David Moyes with the Mirror citing reports coming out of Italy that claim the champions tabled a €25m (£20.5m) offer during the closing stages of the January transfer window.

The bid was rejected out of hand by Roma, and the newspaper suggests that the Italians made it clear they wouldn’t be prepared to do business unless the offer was closer to €40m (£32.8m) – which would be a huge investment for the Red Devils.

In a further blow, the 23-year-old’s agent has also dismissed the chance of Strootman leaving the Stadio Olimpico any time soon, saying:

“Kevin is very happy in Rome,”

“He loves both the club and the city,” adding “he plans to stay a long time.” Strootman’s agent is quoted as saying by the Mirror.

A new central midfielder is likely to be on the agenda for Moyes this summer as they have lacked quality in the middle of the park this season and Strootman would certainly have been an excellent addition.

However, it’s unlikely United would be willing to meet Roma’s supposed €40m (£32.8m) valuation and even if they did agree a deal, the players agent seems to think he’s happy where he is in Italy, so Moyes may have to look elsewhere if he wants to add a top class midfielder to his ranks this summer.

READ MORE –> Arsenal transfer news | Man Utd transfer news

So there’s your latest dose of transfer news. Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.