Arsenal Transfer News: Younes Kaboul Rubbishes Reports of Summer Switch

Arsenal and Tottenham fans can rest easy after defender Younes Kaboul denied he was about to swap one side of North London for the other.

On Tuesday David Woods of the Daily Star ran a story with a headline suggesting that Kaboul was about to follow the path that Sol Campbell had trodden years before.

Woods revealed that the player had supposedly confided in close friends that he was keen on the idea.

However, on Wednesday, Kaboul himself vehemently denied the report:

As if to emphasise the validity of the report, Kaboul even ended his tweet #coys ("Come on you Spurs" for the uneducated).

At 28 years old, Kaboul should be is in his prime as a defender, and even if the story remains just a fabrication for now, it's a little far-fetched to believe that Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger might be interested in the player's services in the future.

It's likely that such a story has only developed because of Thomas Vermaelen's apparent desire to leave the Gunners for pastures new.

talkSPORT's Adrian Durham did note a similar situation developing to that of Sol Campbell: 

The club captain has told Wenger he wants to leave, per an interview provided to Le10Sport by Vermaelen's agent Alex Kroes via Metro.

Therefore, a need for a replacement to provide competition for places, and keep Wenger's first-choice pairing of Per Mertesacker and Laurent Koscielny on their toes, is obvious.

But looking at Kaboul's stats, you would have to question whether he is of a standard to be considered as a replacement for Vermaelen and/or Mertesacker and Koscielny.

Alex Livesey/Getty Images

Per WhoScored.com, in the games he has played this season for Tottenham, Kaboul averages only 1.6 tackles per match. He has a low 72.1 pass completion rate together with an average of 36.1 passes.

Compare that to Vermaelen's 90.8 percent pass accuracy, Mertesacker's 93 percent and Koscielny's 93.3 percent, all per WhoScored.

Clearly, the Arsenal manager likes players who can play a little bit. Defenders who can bring the ball out from the back and build the attack from a deep-lying position.

Players who are completely comfortable in possession of the football.

When fit, Younes Kaboul has attributes that potentially could interest Arsenal, but passing accuracy isn't one of them.

Strong in the tackle perhaps. That could well come in handy in a team of players that had been accused of "going missing" by ex-Manchester United player Paul Scholes in an interview with Sky per ESPN.  

If any sort of guide were needed as to why it would be a mistake for Wenger even to consider Kaboul however, it comes from David Hillier of Sabotage Times:

"

[...] Signed for Spurs originally in 2007 at the tale-end [sic] of the Martin Jol era, he came with a reasonable amount of fanfare and a[n] 8 million price-tag to boot. 

But he was pretty awful, seemingly incapable of keeping his focus for more than 17 seconds, and guilty of a litany of mistakes that saw him distrusted by fans, Jol and Jol’s replacement Juande Ramos. 

28 goals conceded in the first 15 games of the 2007/2008 season with him at the back tell its own story.

"

When Kaboul re-signed for Tottenham from Portsmouth in 2010, he cost them a pretty penny: £9.5 million, to be precise.

Would the player therefore represent value for money if he were to be moved on? That's something that Wenger appears keen on when conducting transfer business dealings.

Since his return to the Lane, Kaboul's career has taken a bit of a nosedive because of his long-term injury problems.

That is probably the best reason of all for Wenger to steer well clear.