Arsenal Transfer News and Rumors Tracker: Week of December 15
It's almost that time of year again.
We are just a couple of weeks from the opening of the January transfer window and all the mad speculation that accompanies it.
The rumors are already flowing thick and fast. The vast majority of it is simple yellow journalism, but it is worth paying attention to see what Arsenal might do in the transfer market and in what direction the club is leaning.
With that, let's track the news and see what people are saying about Arsene Wenger's plans.
Wenger Reiterates Need for a Defender
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Anyone who knows anything about Arsenal is aware that the club desperately need a defender after staggering through the first half of the season with two senior center backs, but it is refreshing to hear Arsene Wenger acknowledge the truth.
"Well yes, with Laurent Koscielny's injury we're a bit cautious and we need cover," he told the BBC after the Gunners' victory over Newcastle.
Those 14 words will be music to the ears of Arsenal fans after experiencing Wenger's equivocation before and during transfer windows for years. He needs to make good this time.
Arsenal Targeting Benedikt Howedes?
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Italian website TuttoMercatoWeb (h/t the Metro) have revived a very old link this week, claiming that Arsenal might be in for Schalke's Benedikt Howedes in a £15 million move.
The German would be an outstanding buy because he is excellent, experienced and versatile. A German international and his club's captain, he can lead his team as a center-back or in a less familiar left-back role.
It almost seems too good to be true, and it most likely is.
The idea that Schalke would let their captain leave in the middle of a season—and that Howedes would want to leave his childhood club in such a way—is insane.
At the very least, Arsenal will have to wait until the summer.
Arsenal in for the Newest Brazilian Wonderkid?
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Brazil has a remarkable knack for producing hot footballing talents. The latest to see his name get bandied about in the press is Lucas Silva, who plays for Cruzeiro and is being targeted by Arsenal and Real Madrid, according to Marca (h/t ESPN FC).
Apparently, while he and his family would prefer that he moves to Europe in the summer, his father told Brazilian site MG Superesportes (translated by AS, h/t ESPN FC): "If he wants things to work out in a different way and he moves to Europe before, we'll be delighted."
It does not seem like Arsenal need another tricky midfielder at the moment, although the injury bug is bound to strike at any time. Regardless of whether or not Wenger dips into the market to make a long-term investment in Silva, he needs to buy a center-back first.
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