Arsenal Transfer News: Karim Bellarabi Bid Rumours, Latest on Charles Aranguiz

Arsenal are reportedly poised to launch a bid to bring Karim Bellarabi to the Emirates Stadium this summer following the German superstar's breakout campaign for Bayer Leverkusen.

According to Jamie Sanderson of Metro, both the Gunners and Manchester United are keeping tabs on the 24-year-old, but it's the Londoners who are ready to make their interest concrete with a "significant" offer.

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Here's a look at why Bellarabi is catching the attention of some of European football's most illustrious club sides:

The Leverkusen man has shone this season under the tutelage of Roger Schmidt. Not only is he a player capable of dazzling defences with his silky skills, blistering pace and supreme agility, but he has a burgeoning end product to match. Indeed, he's bagged 10 goals and two assists for Bayer so far this season, per WhoScored.com.

He's a player who still has a lot to learn, though. For example, Bellarabi shone when Leverkusen hosted Atletico Madrid in the Champions League last-16 first leg, but when the Bundesliga club went to the Vicente Calderon for the return, he was anonymous and erratic in what was a very hostile atmosphere.

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Bleacher Report's Stefan Bienkowski commented on just how disappointing an evening it was for the young German:

For the time being, it's probably best for Bellarabi to remain in Leverkusen and continue developing. After all, it's only this season that he's emerged as a player ready to make an impact in the first team, and a sustained spell in Leverkusen would do more for his progression than a transfer.

Given Arsenal's current wealth of options in attacking midfield, he's not a player the Gunners really need to chase, either. Bleacher Report's James McNicholas thinks that if the club are to splash out in the summer window, then it has to be on a holding midfield player:

That makes their reported pursuit of Chile international Charles Aranguiz a very intriguing one. According to Luiz Zini Pires of Brazilian newspaper Zero Hora (h/t Ed Malyon of the Mirror), the Gunners have been keeping a close eye on the Internacional man since he turned in some excellent displays at the 2014 World Cup and are hoping to get him on board in the summer window.

Here's a taster of the kinds of qualities he would potentially bring to this Arsenal midfield:

Wenger had a reputation during the early stages of his managerial stint with the Gunners for plucking malleable talents seemingly from nowhere before turning them into thoroughbred stars. Aranguiz is a player in that mould and, according to Malyon's piece, could be available in a cut-price £5.5 million deal. Perhap he's the latest diamond in the rough to be discovered by the Frenchman?

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Football writer Zizouology certainly thinks the La Roja star would be an ideal fit for the robust, fierce landscape of English football:

Indeed, Aranguiz has the finesse and ferocity to be a success in England, and should Wenger land him, he's a player whose stock would inevitably soar. The Chilean's ability to manage games with precision passing and astute defensive instincts would add plenty to the base of this fragile Arsenal midfield, too.

But the Gunners need an established specialist in that area of the pitch. For too long, Wenger has left this vacuous hole in his squad unaddressed, and while the very best operators in this position are likely to cost a sizable amount, it'd be worth spending big in order to resolve. Aranguiz would be a fine squad player but not a talent who would provide an immediate solution to this longstanding issue.