Wenger To Kick Start £100m Summer Spree With Move For French 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 a potential Arsenal target.

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger is being tipped to kick off a £100m summer spending spree with a £15m move for Southampton midfielder Morgan Schneiderlin, according to the Sun.

The newspaper claims that Wenger will be handed £100m to spend this summer following the news that the club has over £120m sitting in the bank and the boss has identified a long-term replacement for Mikel Arteta as a priority signing, with Schneiderlin believed to have emerged as a top target.

The Frenchman has been excellent in the defensive midfield role at Southampton since they returned to the top flight 18 months ago and the Sun suggest that Wenger will renew his interest at the end of the season after seeing a £12m bid rejected last summer.

There is little doubt that Arteta has been a great addition since joining the club from Everton in 2011, but he’ll have just one year remaining on his contract this summer at which point he’ll be 32-years-old, so it remains to be seen whether he’ll sign a new deal at the Emirates.

I’m a big fan of the Spaniard’s and feel his contribution sometimes going unnoticed, but even I can’t argue that his lack of pace is beginning to become a worry and I think we will need to bring in someone fresher and more athletic at the end of the season.

Schneiderlin is a hugely under-rated player and would be a great signing if we could pull it off. He’s got that all-important experience in the Premier League and at 24, he’s still got his best years ahead of him.

However, I’m not convinced Southampton will sell for £15m. He’s a vital player for them and the south coast club are an ambitious outfit these days, so Wenger might have to re-evaluate his offer if he wants to bring him to the Emirates.

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