Arsenal are reportedly going to try and sign Riyad Mahrez in January after ‘missing out’ on him in the summer ever though they never actually put a bid in for him in the first place.

A player who has been linked with Arsenal since before Leicester’s league-winning season, there seems to be far more smoke around this story than fire.

In fact, back in August, we reported on Mahrez’s new deal with Leicester and highlighted how Arsenal had not actually shown any serious interest in the player.

So, now, with a new deal under his belt and his price tag inflated even further, Arsenal are said to be considering a move for him.

The first report I read that alerted me to this link laughably claimed that Arsenal fans were ‘displeased’ with the club’s transfer activity in the summer just past.

They referenced Sky Sports as their source and they’ve got their info from Football Whispers which gives weight to rumours based on the publications they appear in which is absolutely no indicator of legitimacy whatsoever.

They also search Facebook, Twitter, forums and blogs but again, how much people are talking about something is more an indication of how many websites have simply repeated the rumour rather than nod hint towards it being a piece of gossip worth listening to.

Does Arsene Wenger like Mahrez?

It would be hard for him not to.

Will he try to sign him in January?

Given that Mahrez is now under contract until 2020, a deal which has no release clause, it would take a whopper of a bid to get Leicester to consider selling him.

If they weren’t prepared to do so in the summer, what makes anyone think they will do it in the middle of the season when the January window opens?

That’s the problem, I guess.

These people don’t think.