Forget Edinson Cavani, Yohan Cabaye Is the PSG Star Arsenal Could Target

Come the January transfer window, Arsenal are unlikely to be in the market for a centre-forward. They might be linked with Edinson Cavani, but Yohan Cabaye is the Paris Saint-Germain player more likely to make the switch to the Emirates Stadium.

Spanish website Fichajes.net (h/t Metro) have suggested that Arsenal could be plotting a record-shattering £55 million move for Edinson Cavani:

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According to reports, Arsene Wenger sanctioned the move this week and senior Arsenal officials are now working on trying to do a deal with PSG.

The Gunners have been tracking Cavani intensively in the last few months and made an attempt to lure him over the summer.

It was knocked back by PSG at the time, but the Uruguayan striker has since grown frustrated with at the club, and Arsenal have decided to go all out to sign him.

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It’s not unreasonable to suggest Cavani could soon be on the move. He has been the subject of intense criticism by the French press after PSG’s slow start to the season.

With Zlatan Ibrahimovic ruled out with injury, Cavani has been handed the centre-forward role he craves. However, he has failed to produce his best form, scoring just three times in nine Ligue 1 appearances.

Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Getty Images

Cavani has even been left out of the Uruguay squad for the friendlies with Saudi Arabia and Oman. Coach Oscar Tabarez insists the powerful forward has merely been rested, but it’s equally possible Cavani’s omission is a strategic decision intended to light a fire under the misfiring striker.

Former Spain international Luis Suarez believes the time has come for Cavani to leave PSG. Speaking to France Football (h/t Goal.com), Suarez suggested Cavani is suffering from sharing a club with the influential Ibrahimovic:

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He's become a normal player who just works for Ibra.

Sometimes, despite wanting to make things better, you actually make the situation worse.

So, I think it would be better for him and the club [if Cavani] were to leave] because Zlatan is more complete and stronger.

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However, it’s difficult to see Arsenal entering the bidding for Cavani. Although Wenger is on record stating his admiration for the player, the Gunners are not light of numbers up top.

At the end of the summer transfer window, they completed the signing of Danny Welbeck from Manchester United. Within a matter of weeks, the BBC reported that the London club agreed a new long-term contract with the sidelined Olivier Giroud. Wenger already has to wrestle with how to accommodate those two international strikers without adding a third to the mix.

Yohan Cabaye is a different matter. The midfielder has had to settle for a place on the bench on several occasions this season, and he has expressed his unhappiness in an interview with L'Equipe (h/t the Daily Mail):

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You have to accept being a substitute, but I don't resign myself to that. In training sessions, I have to give my best and show my desire to play.

When I am on the pitch, I feel it is not perfect and that I often have to leave too soon. But I know the coach and staff have to make choices and I respect that.

Have I spoken to Laurent Blanc? No. What do I tell him? I am 28 years old and not new to the job. But I am not satisfied with the situation.

Am I completely happy? To be honest, no. It is a new situation for me, but I don't complain. It is the first time I haven't played regularly for my club.

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Cabaye’s contemplative mood will surely pique Arsene Wenger’s interest. Arsenal made a £10 million approach for the France international, then with Newcastle United, in August 2013. The Magpies and Alan Pardew were incensed at what they considered a derisory offer, and a deal failed to materialise.

Come January, Cabaye joined PSG in a deal worth nearly twice that amount.

Arsenal still have a need for someone with Cabaye’s attributes. Neither Mikel Arteta nor Mathieu Flamini has been particularly impressive this season. Cabaye has the discipline to sit at the base of the midfield, but he also has the technical requirements to jell with Arsenal’s smooth passing game.

The one thing counting against him is arguably his age. In January, Cabaye will turn 29. He's not necessarily a signing for the long term. However, 29 is exactly how old Arteta was when the Frenchman recruited him from Everton. Perhaps Wenger considers experience vital when identifying players to play in the pivotal holding role.

If Arsenal are to raid PSG this January, Cabaye seems a much more likely target than Cavani.

James McNicholas is Bleacher Report's lead Arsenal correspondent and will be following the club from a London base throughout the 2014/15 season. Follow him on Twitter here.