Arsenal Transfer News: Clement Grenier Should Be Top Target for Club Next Summer

You might as well start preparing for next summer if you're Arsenal.

It doesn't look like the Gunners are going to do much this year in the transfer window, which is a massive shame. You can see that there's a lot of quality in the side. Arsenal took all three points in their clash with Tottenham on Sunday and dominated Fulham in their previous Premier League fixture.

However, you can still see holes in the squad, and the club has done nothing to really address them. Arsenal are a top-four club, but they're not title contenders.

If they want to start thinking about how to go about the process of getting back into title contention, perhaps they should start with Clement Grenier.

The 22-year-old midfielder has confirmed that he'll stay at Olympique Lyonnais for the 2012/13 season, even after the club's exit from the Champions League, as reported by RMC Sport (via Goal.com's Shane Callaghan): "There is no question to ask. It will be complicated [when I want to leave], but then I must ask the president [Jean-Michel Aulas]. But I am happy in Lyon."

Grenier was linked to the Gunners after Arsene Wenger talked about the player on Telefoot (h/t the Daily Mail's Simon Jones). Wenger said: "We are following him. His intelligence of play pleases me. He has interesting qualities. He reminds me of Nasri."

Last season, the French midfielder had seven goals and five assists in 28 Ligue 1 appearances. In Lyon's first three matches of the 2013/14 season, he's already notched a goal and two assists. He's a tremendous playmaker who's also lethal on set pieces. His free kicks are already becoming the stuff of legend.

Spending the money on Grenier shouldn't be the problem, even if Jean-Michel Aulas tries to demand Mario Gotze money. Arsenal will have the financial strength to finance purchasing Grenier, it's just the matter of pulling the trigger.

The move makes a lot of sense for the club.

By this time next year, Grenier will likely have firmly planted himself as one of the best young midfielders in the world. He'll be 23 years old and just beginning to enter his prime. The transfer falls in line with Arsenal's policy of being young and selling for a profit.

Even if they have to pay £30 million for Grenier, they'd be able to get more should they have to move him on in three or four years.

He would be a great fit in Arsenal's attack. Grenier would give a little help to Santi Cazorla and make it easier to move him out wide. It also prevents Aaron Ramsey or Jack Wilshere from having to play a more advanced position.

It's impossible to predict how things will be at the Emirates a year from now. Surely, though, you'd believe that Wenger and Ivan Gazidis would handle the transfer market better than they have this year. They'd have to know that the club cannot afford to have another summer like this, where they fail to buy any players of note. Otherwise, the club risks losing even more fan support.

Grenier would be a great start to the summer and help show supporters that Arsenal have put their past transfer troubles behind them.