Emirates Stadium side look to bring in midfield battler.
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Arsenal are closing in on a deal to sign Southampton midfielder Morgan Schneiderlin after reaching an agreement for the French international following a £22m bid.
CaughtOffside understands that Arsene Wenger still retains hope of landing Real Madrid battler Sami Khedira but the German’s wage demands have seen that deal stall, leaving the Gunners boss to shift his attention to 24 year old Saints star Schneiderlin.
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St Mary’s boss Ronald Koeman is reluctantly ready to cash-in on the long serving midfielder but Schneiderlin has made it clear he wishes to leave the south-coast side for pastures new.
Southampton will hope that Tottenham’s interest in Schneiderlin could lead to something of a bidding war though Mauricio Pochettino is yet to register an official bid for his former charge.
Arsenal are ready to offer right-back Carl Jenkinson as part of the deal, with the youngster said to be unhappy that his side elected to sign Mathieu Debuchy from Newcastle United and effectively left the England defender out in the cold following Bacary Sagna’s move to Man City.
Wenger is also open to loaning out either Serge Gnabry or Joel Campbell to help push a deal through, not least as such a move would help the pair secure some much needed Premier League experience.
Schneiderlin moved to Southampton from Strasbourg in June 2008 and helped the club to back to back promotions from League One and had an excellent campaign last term to more than prove his abilities at Premier League level.
That form helped secure a call-up to Didier Deschamps World Cup finals squad this summer.
Morgan Schneiderlin has racked up a total of 231 appearances for Southampton.
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