Arsenal are reportedly weighing up a move for Roma’s Patrik Schick, a player they have been linked with before, and they could use Aaron Ramsey as a make-weight.

Arsenal seemed set to stay out of the January transfer window until Danny Welbeck snapped his ankle against Sporting on Thursday night. Now, they seem likely to make a move for a forward and the 22-year-old has made his way to the top of the rumour pile.

Just after Danny’s injury, reports started to emerge that the club were interested in a loan move for Roma’s Patrik Schick with the Italians keen to send the player somewhere to get some minutes. He’s only started two games all season and has just 273 minutes across eight games – an average of 34 minutes per appearance.

That’s how the story stood until this Lazio site got involved claiming that Lazio have competition for Ramsey’s signature from the Romans. They claim that Arsenal would be willing to offer Ramsey to convince Roma to part with the player, however, that only works if you believe Arsenal want to buy him instead of loan him for the rest of the season.

At this point, it is all speculation.

We don’t even know the severity of Welbeck’s injury nor how long he is likely to be on the sidelines. We don’t know what Ramsey is planning to do nor where he would like to move to.

From what I’ve gathered, Welbeck was in contract talks with the club about a renewal but that must be on hold now as the club looks to see how he recovers.

Damage to a joint is significantly harder to recover from than a straight tib/fib fracture – just ask Abou Diaby or Eduardo. An orthopedic specialist told me when I broke a joint of my own that it is impossible to do that and not leave lasting damage. Then he showed me the X-ray to prove it.