According to reports , Arsenal are ‘in talks’ over a move for Newcastle United’s French midfielder Moussa Sissoko.
There has been talk of Arsenal interest in the French international for a while but with the Gunners lacking numbers and strength in midfield – Sissoko is a very logical player for Arsenal to be linked with as he ticks all of the right boxes (age, fitness, availability).
So far so good then.
But the issue with the story, as ever, comes with the details.
The English reports from Friday mention the French paper L’Equipe as the source of their information – but with a quick glance at the original article, with a bit of help from Google Translate, you quickly realise that the four line story in the French press doesn’t mention at all that Arsenal are in any form of talks for Sissoko.
The story simply mentions that Wenger needs some strength in his midfield and likes Sissoko – and that Sissoko would likely cost around 20m Euros.
I’m not saying it won’t happen. As I said Sissoko does tick all of the boxes, but there is very little at the moment to suggest that talks are already underway.
With Newcastle now being managerless, it makes getting one of their star players a fair bit harder as does the fact that they reportedly want £16m for him while Arsenal are said to have gone in with an offer for £9m.
Given that Arsenal have lacked strength in their midfield for a while now, if Wenger is so keen on Sissoko – why didn’t he make a move for him two years ago when he was available on a Bosman pre-contract agreement. Newcastle signed him for a nominal fee six months before his deal expired. Could it be that they are only interested now because of all the injuries to the midifelders at the club?
Or maybe they’re not interested at all.