It’s Deadline Day and that means that transfer rumours go into overdrive.
One of the most talked about stories is that of an Arsenal move for Southampton’s Morgan Schneiderlin – a move that is now said to have been agreed by the player.
Arsenal have been linked with a move for Southampton’s Morgan Schneiderlin for months now, but this weekend reports started doing the rounds (based on an article from L’Equipe) suggesting that Schneiderlin has turned down moves to Liverpool, Manchester United and Spurs and that he has agreed a £15m move to Arsenal in the summer.
It’s no great secret that Arsenal have been short of a defensive midfielder for a while.
With Mathieu Flamini, Mikel Arteta, Francis Coquelin and Abou Diaby’s deals expiring in the summer Arsenal will be in need of reinforcements (even if a couple of them seal new deals).
The simple fact is that despite having those players on the books, Arsenal have still lacked someone with quality at the base of the midfield three so the priority to strengthen the midfield in the summer will be stepped up.
It’s likely to be for more than the £15m mentioned unless there is a release clause or agreement that hasn’t been properly revealed but I don’t think that it is a coincidence that as this story has started to emerge over the last few weeks as Arsenal links with other defensive midfielders (Carvalho for instance) have quietened down.
Unless something drastic changes I’d be more surprised if Schneiderlin ISN’T an Arsenal player by the end of the next window.