Arsenal Transfer News: Big-Money Moves Eyed in Latest Gunners Rumours

Confidence is high ahead of the upcoming season that Arsenal may finally be able to mount a significant title challenge once again. 

A strong end to the the 2014-15 season showed they have the players to challenge at the top of the Premier League, but, realistically, manager Arsene Wenger still needs to make some crucial additions in the summer transfer window.

The Gunners need added strength and depth if they are going to compete over a whole season, and specifically they need added firepower up front.

A new striker is a must, and Arsenal have been given a recent boost in their pursuit of Lyon forward Alexandre Lacazette.

Per the Telegraph, Lyon boss Hubert Fournier has hinted that the Frenchman's future is very much up in the air:

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He is still under contract and the club is the decision maker. At no time have I felt a request to leave from him. Things can still change. It is early July. The sooner it is resolved, the better it will be for everyone.

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The report also notes recent comments from Lacazette saying that should he move from Ligue 1, he would want to join a Champions League club.

Arsenal look to be the perfect candidates for the 24-year-old, especially as Wenger has a history of working effectively with Frenchmen.

Lacazette would be a terrific addition for Arsenal. He is a natural goalscorer, netting 27 times in Ligue 1 last season, per WhoScored.com.

Along with current Gunners front man Olivier Giroud, Lacazette could form quite a partnership and add the goals Arsenal need if they are to win the Premier League.

Furthermore, the arrival of Lacazette at the Emirates would lift the goalscoring onus off Alexis Sanchez, who is likely to take some time to return to full fitness at the beginning of the coming season after his travails with Chile in the Copa America, per Bleacher Report's Sam Tighe:

A recent Telegraph report suggested Arsenal could snap Lacazette up for as little as £21 million. At that price, the French international would be a bargain and would make Arsenal genuine contenders for the title in 2015-16.

Another Frenchman who could be a huge asset for Arsenal is Southampton's defensive midfielder Morgan Schneiderlin.

The Gunners have long been linked with the 25-year-old, who is known to be pushing for a move to a Champions League club, per Neil McLeman in the Mirror. 

Manchester United were thought to be leading the way to sign Schneiderlin, but according to Jack Wilson in the Daily Star, they have now dropped their interest in the former Strasbourg man as they close in on the signing of Bayern Munich's Bastian Schweinsteiger.

Wilson continues that Arsenal see £25 million as too high an asking price for Schneiderlin, but as a player who could be the Gunners midfield general for seven or eight years to come, such a value actually seems quite reasonable.

Arsenal have been crying out for a midfield enforcer for years, and although Francis Coquelin performed well in the role last season, Schneiderlin is a better player.

The addition of both Schneiderlin and Lacazette would make Arsenal a force to be reckoned with, not just in the Premier League but in Europe as well.

They would bring depth and quality currently lacking in the Arsenal squad, and although money will have to be spent, it would be worth it for the north London outfit.