Arsenal set to complete the signing of £60m WORLD CLASS attacking midfielder who is more better in terms of Chance creating than Xhaka’: Arteta want Edu to sign Him as ideal Replacement for Legendary Xhaka as He sees Kai Havertz as someone that is not fit for the Role
Arsenal could already be considering their options for the January transfer window, as Mikel Arteta hopes to bolster his squad for the second half of the 2023/24 campaign.
The Spaniard has seen his side start the season well, however the looming narrative of last term’s lack of squad depth is already plaguing the favoured XI.
Injuries to key players and little room to manoeuvre rotation has provided an essence of the 2022/23 Premier League season’s shortcomings, in which the Gunners missed out on the title on the home straight as their lack of quality outside of the XI was exploited.
This week, the Mirror explained that the north Londoners will target reinforcements for their midfield in the upcoming January window, with £105m summer acquisition Declan Rice being the only player not to be absent from injury at present in Arteta’s favoured middle of the park trio.
Arsenal’s January transfer targets
As highlighted by John Cross, via The Mirror, the manager’s primary target in deep midfield is said to be Aston Villa dynamo Douglas Luiz, a player the Gunners failed to sign last summer.
The Brazilian has a current market value of €60m (£52m), however is poised to cost even more due to his importance to Unai Emery’s side, and the fact that the 25-year-old penned a new deal with the Villans in October 2022.
Away from the Premier League, another potential target has been identified in the form of a player well-known elsewhere in the Midlands, with former Wolves midfielder Ruben Neves reported to be of interest at Arsenal.
A report from talkSPORT suggested that Arteta and Edu could opt to challenge Newcastle United for the signature of the 26-year-old, who could return to the top-flight on a loan deal from Al-Hilal just five months after his move to Saudi Arabia.
The upcoming vote to determine whether Premier League clubs can block loaning players within their ownership groups could be detrimental to the Magpies’ hopes and could hand the Gunners a boost in their bid to sign the Portugal international.
The report from talkSPORT also acknowledged Edu as a ‘long-term admirer’ of the former Molineux magician.
Ruben Neves’ time in the Premier League
In the summer of 2017, Wolves captured Neves from Porto when the club were in the Championship, making for confusing reading in Portugal as the midfielder traded in the Liga Portugal for the English second-tier to join Nuno Espirito Santo’s revolution.
The 1997-born gem only needed a single season in the Championship to assist the Old Gold in gaining promotion, as his importance in Nuno’s side became evident as he flourished in playing among the physicality of the English game.
In the Premier League, Neves’ consistency never dipped, as his presence in the engine room inspired the growth of the team, with his combative yet elegant edge beneficial to both the defence and attack.
A quality ball striker and fine passer of the ball, the 44-cap Portugal international was once lauded as being “on another planet” to his teammates by journalist Steve Madeley, reinforcing his quality while at Molineux.
