Arsenal want to sign Lucas Vazquez from Real Madrid to replace Alexis Sanchez, according to reports in Spain.

Don Balon write that the Gunners want to take advantage of Vazquez’s inconsistent game time to sign him.

Zinedine Zidane gave the winger two starts in the last eight league games, leaving him on the bench three times. If Alexis Sanchez ends up leaving the club in January, Arsenal could offer Vazquez more consistent starts.

The Spanish outlet claim Arsene Wenger admires the 26-year-old’s speed and counter-attacking prowess. The Spaniard is mostly performing pretty well in his limited minutes at the Bernabeu, boasting eight goals scored and created in 10 starts in all competitions.

While there is the possibility that Arsenal promote from within when choosing Alexis’ immediate successor, Wenger knows he’ll have to sign a replacement to make up the Chilean’s goals next summer.

The Gunners are keen to keep Alexis for the remainder of the season, but Manchester City are pushing hard to get a deal done this month. It’s worth Arsenal’s time to have options lined up if the worst should happen, and the £13.5m-rated winger isn’t a bad solution, in my opinion.

As a result, the rumour isn’t completely ridiculous, even if talk from Don Balon should be taken with a pinch of salt. They aren’t the most reliable source of transfer news in Spain, but it’s nice to see they’ve finally moved on from pushing an Alexis-Benzema swap deal.