The Russian media are claiming that Arsene Wenger wants Zenit St. Petersburg striker, Aleksandr Kokorin.

Now, if the name sounds familiar, that’s because we were very close to signing him back in January during the winter transfer window. Danny Welbeck’s injury was holding him back and it was clear we needed more fire power. However, our offer was rejected and the now-25-year-old Russian ended up moving from Dynamo Moscow, where he’d played all his life, to Zenit.

Fast forward six months and a lad who held so much promise only managed to score three goals in 14 appearances for his new club.

Although the Russian League isn’t as strong as the English one, you’d still expect a better return.

Russian publication, Sport Express, insists that despite not exactly setting the Euros on fire so far this summer, Wenger is still keeping his eye on him. No disrespect to the boy, I’m sure he’s talented in his own right and back in January, he could have signed for us and done well but he’s shown he’s far too off the boil right now to play for us. Despite scoring 12 goals for his country in previous years (including friendlies), he’s not scored so far this tournament. He was even subbed off for his poor performance against Slovakia. Although we’re only two-games into the Euros, you’d expect a striker of his age to be able to step up when his country need him.

Yeah, I’m sure the boss is keeping his eye on him… but I’m not sure that’s because he wants him to come to Arsenal…

He should be playing for Russian against Wales at 8pm UK time. Maybe we can keep an eye on Wenger keeping an eye on Kokorin?