Arsenal Transfer Rumors: Arsene Wenger Wise to Back Off from Yann M'Vila

Arsenal are toning down their pursuit of Rennes midfielder Yann M'Vila, and as usual, Arsene Wenger is making the right move. 

According to Mirror Football, the French club is asking for £17 million for the midfielder, causing Wenger to abandon talks and switch his focus to Manchester City's Nigel De Jong.

Wegner's strategy of not paying high prices in the transfer market has kept Arsenal competitive throughout the Frenchman's tenure, but has not led to trophies in recent years. The Gunners have not won the Premier league since the 2003-04 season, and they have made the semifinals of the Champions League just once since losing to Barcelona in the 2006 final. 

Arsenal have been stuck in limbo, remaining in the top four every season, but never threatening to win the league. They need a player who will push the team over the top and make a big impact immediately upon arrival, and M'Vila is not that player.

M'Vila is young, athletic and plays the holding midfielder position very well. But adding him to the squad would not make enough of a difference to help the Gunners improve their third-place finish in the Premiership.

Admittedly, De Jong is not that type of impact player, either, but he can be bought for much cheaper than M'Vila. He plays the exact same role and can play the position very effectively.

At 27 years old, De Jong is older than a typical Wenger transfer target. He started just 11 games for City last season, struggling to break into the lineup after an influx of expensive transfers. But in De Jong's limited playing time, 92.3 percent of his passes were successful, compared to the 83.2 percent mark that M'Vila set, according to Whoscored.com.

He is now expendable, and Wenger will likely be able to buy him for much less than the £17million price tag that has been placed on M'Vila.

Wenger is much better off saving his money and letting another team splurge on M'Vila. De Jong can be just as effective at bringing stability and depth to the Arsenal midfielder position, even if he is a few years older. 

If Arsenal do end up spending that much money on a player this summer, it should be on someone who will make an impact in the attack and help out Robin Van Persie. This will be significantly more helpful to the team in their quest to win the EPL for the first time in eight seasons.

Wenger is right to bide his time and wait to get the right player at the right price. Even if that opportunity does not arise, the team still has the talent and youth to stay competitive for many years to come.