Arsenal Transfer Rumors: Gunners Should Avoid Overpriced Steven N'Zonzi

Arsenal has been linked to Blackburn midfielder Steven N'Zonzi ever since the end of last season, but with the asking price on the rise, the Gunners should stop chasing him before they end up paying too much to get a deal done.

The Rovers have placed a £10million price tag on N'Zonzi due to the high level of interest in the 23-year-old Frenchman, according to the Lancashire Telegraph. Aside from the Gunners, Stoke City and Borussia Dortmund are among the other teams with interest.

While nobody can blame Blackburn for attempting to get maximum value for him by using the clubs against each other, that's too much to shell out for the defensive midfielder. He hasn't accomplished enough to warrant that type of money.

As Robin van Persie continues to plan his exit strategy from Emirates after letting the team know he doesn't plan on extending his contract, the Gunners have to spend wisely because they will have a major hole to fill if he does leave this offseason.

Arsene Wenger has already been busy during the transfer window, securing deals with Lukas Podolski and Olivier Giroud. His job will get a whole lot tougher if Van Persie pushes his way out the door this summer, which means he'll want to have plenty of funds available.

N'Zonzi has shown flashes of potential during his time at Ewood Park and should continue to develop into a reliable defensive midfielder in the coming years. That said, he isn't a massive upgrade over Arsenal's current group of options, including Alex Song.

When you are going to make a big investment, a team should immediately get a lot better because of it. That wouldn't be the case if the Gunners brought in N'Zonzi. He would only have real value as a depth addition for about half Blackburn's asking price.

Even though fans are always pushing their favorites teams to make moves during the offseason, sometimes the best move a team can make is walking away and saving the money for a when more cost-effective option becomes available down the road.

There's still more than a month until next season gets underway, and it's hard to believe any team in its right mind would pay that much for N'Zonzi. So if Wenger wants him bad and exercises some patience, the price should come down as Blackburn gets more desperate to move him.

Otherwise, the Gunners should just stay out of the sweepstakes altogether.