Emirates Stadium side set for major overhaul with three top talents high up on the north London side’s wish-list.
Arsenal are preparing for an extensive squad shake-up as Arsene Wenger looks to mount a genuine Premier League title challenge next season.
CaughtOffside understands the north London club have identified three potential summer transfer targets who will be brought in to resolve and strengthen potential ‘problem areas’ whilst Wenger also looks to offset the cost of such additions by trimming his squad with seven first team players set to leave the Emirates Stadium this summer.
Arsene Wenger’s prime target is Schalke youngster Julian Draxler and having failed to land the 20 year old German international in January Arsenal are ready to now meet the Bundesliga side’s asking price, which is thought to stand in the region of £37m.
One of the prime concerns in stumping up the cash in January related to the injury the midfielder was still recovering from at the time but the talented starlet has returned to full fitness and been in outstanding form in recent weeks helping Jens Keller’s side to a run that has seen the Veltins-Arena side lose just one of their last 15 Bundesliga fixtures.
Wenger will look to replace Bacary Sagna with Arsenal looking likely to lose the experienced right-back and the Gunners boss has identified young Toulouse defender Serge Aurier as the man for the job and is ready to make a £10m move for the 21 year old.
Arsenal will look to tie up the deal before the 2014 World Cup finals get underway with Aurier likely to be a key performer in the Ivory Coast side and the Emirates Stadium side have already begun negotiations with his Ligue 1 employers.
Such a move may well lead Carl Jenkinson to consider his future at Arsenal as he is understood to be hopeful of succeeding Sagna in the right-back berth.
Arsene Wenger has openly admitted that French forward Olivier Giroud has been overworked this term and his number of striking target comes in the form of Bayern Munich’s Mario Mandzukic.
The Croatian’s first team chances at the Allianz Arena are set to be tested by the arrival of Robert Lewandowski, with the Borussia Dortmund goal machine having already agreed a move to the Bavarian side.
Boss Pep Guardiola is said to be open to offers for Mandzukic and Arsenal are ready to offer up to £25m for the former Wolfsburg man, who has scored a healthy 48 goals in 85 appearances since moving to Bayern Munich in June 2012.
Wenger is ready to listen to offers for Spaniard Mikel Arteta after a less than spectacular season from the normally dependable midfielder.
The 32 year old has just over a year to run on his current contract and a new deal is not on the cards leaving the former Everton man to consider his future.
There is growing speculation that Toffees boss Roberto Martinez may look to welcome Arteta back to Goodison Park with loaned in Man City man Gareth Barry seemingly not within the club’s reach due to his huge wage demands.
Thomas Vermaelen will be allowed to leave in the summer with the Belgian growing increasingly frustrated by the limited role he now occupies in a squad that he is still the captain of.
The former Ajax man started his Arsenal career brightly but for the past 18 months he has found himself as a back-up for either central defensive or left-back roles and the 28 year old will push to leave the north London club with a number of sides said to be keen on the experienced Gunners skipper.
Abou Diaby is set to return from a long term injury but this comes to late to salvage an Arsenal career that has never really got going.
The French midfielder has spent much of the past few seasons out injured and when called upon and fully fit Wenger has more often than not been disappointed by his inconsistent form.
A move back to Ligue 1 appears on the cards though a lot will depend on just how much the Emirates Stadium side expect to garner from his sale.
Arsene Wenger is said to be unhappy with German forward Lukas Podolski and is ready to consider decent offers for the 28 year old, who has scored just ten Premier League starts in what has proven a difficult second Premier League season.
Though the 28 year old is said to be happy at Arsenal though is aware that his indifferent form and a lack of a full 90 minute run out could detrimentally affect his standing in the Joachim Low’s national team set-up.
A move back to Koln could perhaps be a possibility with Podolski’s former club set to return to the Bundesliga after two seasons in the German second tier.
Spaniard Nacho Monreal is apparently unsettled at Arsenal having failed to make the left-back spot his own, with Kieran Gibbs retaining the starting spot when fully fit, and the former Malaga man is said to be considering his future at the Emirates Stadium.
A move back to La Liga could be on the cards for the 28 year old though a lot could depend on whether he books a spot in Vicente del Bosque’s 2014 World Cup finals squad with the chances of a Gunners exit increasing if he fails to get a seat on the plane.
Contract rebel Bacary Sagna looks set to leave Arsenal after numerous attempts to tie the 31 year old to a new deal failing in recent months.
Sagna is thought to be after a big pay-rise as well as a lengthy contract offer, neither aspects of which are likely to be met by Arsenal so a move back to his native France seems likely with both PSG and AS Monaco said to be keen on the quality performer.
The fact that Danish international Nicklas Bendtner is even part of Arsenal’s first team set-up says more about Arsene Wenger’s unwillingness or inability to bring in further striking options than the big forward’s ability to perform at the highest level.
The 26 year old has made just one Premier League start this season, that coming last December, and Bendtner will be looking for a new club when his current contract expires at the end of the current campaign.
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