Arsenal Transfer News: Ayoze Perez Bid Expected, Latest Edinson Cavani Rumours

Newcastle United look to have pulled off one of the signings of the season in bringing in Ayoze Perez, but the Spanish forward may not be on Tyneside for long after it was reported that Arsenal are taking a hard look at the player.

According to reports in Spain (h/t Bruce Archer of the Daily Star), the striker has caught the eye of the Gunners and Manchester United after a string of superb displays over the festive period and both clubs are apparently ready to make their interest concrete in the form of a bid in January.

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As noted in Archer’s piece, Perez has been a steal after Alan Pardew signed him from Tenerife for circa £2 million. He’s been in and out of the side of late, but has already contributed five goals to Newcastle’s cause in the Premier League this season, per WhoScored.com.

Umar Farooq of The Times paid tribute to the Spaniard earlier in the campaign:

Arsenal should probably hold off before pursuing him with any great endeavour, though. So often we’ve seen players come into the Premier League and enjoy a scintillating start before eventually burning out. Perez is beginning to feel the pace of English football too according to stand-in manager John Carver, per Lee Ryder of the Chronicle:

Given the Gunners already have Danny Welbeck and Olivier Giroud to occupy those particular spots, any move for the Spaniard would be a little rapacious.

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Indeed, if the Gunners are going to move for a striker in the January window—after bolstering their defensive midfield and defensive options first, of course—then it must be for a player who is an upgrade on the aforementioned duo. 

Sadly, there aren’t swathes of strikers available in mid-season who possess that kind of quality, but one talent who has been touted is Edinson Cavani. According to Archer of the Daily Star, the Paris Saint-Germain forward could be available for a January transfer after failing to report back to training on time following the festive break.

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Getting him in January would be a real coup for the Gunners; here Janusz Michallik takes a look at some ambitious mid-season targets for Wenger:

But PSG boss Laurent Blanc has moved quickly to dispel any rumours, insisting the club is in no hurry to sell any players despite the recent incident, per David Amoyal of gianlucadimarzio.com:

"

The President has been very eloquent. Requests for our players could arrive but we're in no rush, there is time. 

If we have to make certain choices they have to be the right choices.

"

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Reports in the French press mirror the quotes from Blanc and l’Equipe insists that neither Cavani nor teammate Ezequiel Lavezzi will be leaving the club mid-season, per Bleacher Report’s French football expert Jonathan Johnson:

Here’s a look at what Cavani could potentially add to Arsenal’s array of attacking talents:

Wenger is a manager who has never really been privy to splashing the cash in January and, with Cavani likely to command a hefty premium, a summer bid looks the most likely course of action in his pursuit of the player, if there is indeed a pursuit at all.

Being linked with forward players will do plenty to excite supporters, but it’s imperative that Wenger moves to improve the defensive options available to him first. Already this squad is offensively loaded and it’s cost Arsenal points on myriad occasions this season; a failure to address that facet of the team would be especially naive on the part of the manager.