The Player Nobody's Talking About That Arsenal Need in January

Arsenal, and the rest of the football world, are closing in on the start of the January transfer window.

It could be a pivotal period for the Gunners—with Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil hurtling towards the end of their contracts, manager Arsene Wenger will doubtless have to fend off considerable interest in his star duo.

However, the transfer window needs to be about more than resisting offers for existing players; Arsenal must capitalise on the opportunity to strengthen their squad. With the club's scouting expected to intensify over the next few weeks, OGC Nice's Wylan Cyprien must be one of the names on their shopping list.

Central midfield is Arsenal's biggest problem. Wenger has sought to resolve the problem by removing Ozil from the equation, redeploying him as an inside forward in Arsenal's new 3-4-2-1 system. That has left Granit Xhaka and Aaron Ramsey as the de facto pairing in the middle of the park.

Xhaka and Ramsey are an adequate partnership, but not much more than that. Sometimes, contrasting styles can lead to an effective blend, but for this pair, it creates as many problems as solutions.

Ramsey is naturally mobile and prone to wandering, which can leave Xhaka isolated. If the Swiss had the recovery speed of, say, an N'Golo Kante, that might not be a problem. However, athleticism is not Xhaka's strong suit. The imbalance in the Arsenal midfield frequently leads to the defence being unnecessarily exposed.

One man who might have been able to prevent these problems is Santi Cazorla. The Spaniard is a remarkable player who seemingly has the capacity to make any midfield function—he even made Francis Coquelin look like an Arsenal first-team player.

Cazorla's gifts enable him to function almost as two different players in the same team. He's a playmaker and a dribbler, a No. 10 and an out-and-out central midfielder. His willingness to receive the ball under pressure means the team constantly has an out-ball, and his ability to slalom his way between players enables Arsenal to scythe through the opposition when required.

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However, Cazorla has had a prolonged Achilles problem. A post-operative infection led to eight centimetres of his Achilles tendon being missing. Multiple surgeries have been performed in an attempt to repair the situation, and Cazorla's avowed intention is to try to make a comeback in the new year.

Wenger recently praised Cazorla for his dogged determination to return, per Sachin Nakrani of the Guardian:

"I have been in touch with Santi throughout his rehab, and it has been extremely tough and testing for him. If there is one guy who loves football passionately, loves to be on the pitch and comes in with a smile every day when he is fit, it's Santi Cazorla, so you know he suffers a lot not to be out there with the ball at his feet.

"He is extremely strong and brave, and behind his smile is a strength you would not guess. He is a very strong character, and everyone at Arsenal wishes him well and we hope to have him back soon."

However, Wenger must recognise that even if Cazorla manages to regain some measure of fitness, his days as a regular first-team player are behind him. He turns 33 in December and will be even more vulnerable to injury after such horrendous problems and nine separate surgeries. Arsenal need someone new to build their midfield around—and that's where Cyprien comes in. 

Arsenal were linked with a number of central midfielders last summer—including Cyprien's Nice team-mate Jean Michael Seri. According to James Olley of the Evening Standard, Arsenal were still monitoring Seri as late as transfer deadline day. 

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Despite all the discussion of Seri, Cyprien's name was barely mentioned. His name didn't crop up in relation to Arsenal for the entirety of the transfer window. The reason why is simple: An anterior cruciate ligament injury suffered in March meant it would have been impossible for him to pass a medical in the summer of 2017.

Arsenal fans might be concerned about the prospect of replacing one crock with another. However, Cyprien has made a relatively swift recovery and is already back in training with Nice's academy side. After seven months on the sidelines, he's about to make his return to Ligue 1.

He had a tremendous impact last season. After arriving in the summer of 2016 from Ligue 2 Lens, Cyprien hit the ground running at Nice. His partnership with Seri was instrumental in their third-placed finish, and the 22-year-old finished the season with eight league goals and a further three assists.

His versatility is key. Already in his young career, he's showcased a capacity to play in a midfield two or a three. He is a bona fide box-to-box player—the kind who could flourish alongside either Xhaka or Ramsey or both.

This season, Arsenal have missed players who can inject some dynamism and drive into the midfield. Cazorla, Tomas Rosicky, Abou Diaby and Jack Wilshere were all players with the capacity to pick up the ball from deep and make a penetrative dribble into the opposition half. Of those, only Wilshere remains with the club—and he is not trusted to play regularly at Premier League level.

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Cyprien is a good dribbler, able to weave between opposition markers with ease. He has the combination of acceleration and technique required to break the lines, and when he does, he has the composure to take advantage of the space created. 

He also shares Ramsey's capacity to arrive in the box at the telling moment. It's an invaluable knack, and one that led to Cyprien becoming one of Nice's most potent attacking weapons last season.

There are weaknesses in his game; he's not a natural tackler and is not particularly good in the air. However, those shortcomings didn't prevent Cazorla from becoming the mainstay of the Arsenal midfield.

Arsenal must first ensure Cyprien has made a good recovery from his knee injury. The midfielder is expected to make his Ligue 1 return before Christmas, so there will be time to run the rule over his performances before the transfer window opens.

If Cyprien is able to hit the same heights as last season, Wenger would be foolish to ignore him.

James McNicholas is Bleacher Report's lead Arsenal correspondent and follows the club from a London base. You can follow him on Twitter here.