Arsenal Transfer News: Gunners Handed Boost in their Attempts to Land Highly Rated Swiss Defender in January

Arsenal have been boosted in their attempts to sign Fabian Schar following reports of the Swiss centre-back looking to leave his current club FC Basel for a bigger side in January.

The Gunners, who are currently in dire need of a new centre-back, are believed to be very interested in signing the 22-year-old Swiss international.

Arsene Wenger was keen to land the £10million-rated defender this summer, but Basel had refused to sell.

However, the North London club have now been handed a boost as Schar has himself stated that he does not want to extend his stay at Basel.

"Basel are open to negotiations, but at this moment I have decided that I want to concentrate on my performances," said the defender, according to the Daily Express. "I went through a difficult period and it wasn't the right time to discuss my renewal. I don't want to be worrying about that now."

With Borussia Dortmund and Inter Milan also thought to be interested in securing the Swiss defender's signature, Arsenal will certainly be getting a lot of competition in January as Schar insists that he is open to offers from England, Germany or Italy.

"My dream remains to have an experience abroad. I've always said that if the opportunity presented itself, I would take it, obviously in agreement with Basel," he added.

"I need a team with important prospects. I'd like the Bundesliga, Premier League or top Italian clubs like Inter, Milan and Juventus. I couldn't say no. I want to hear all my options and consider them carefully. There was some contact in the summer, but nothing serious."

Meanwhile, Wenger admits that he is surprised to see Alexis Sanchez adapt to the Premier League so quickly as foreign players usually struggle in England during their first season.

While even Arsenal legends Thierry Henry and Dennis Bergkamp initially struggled in the Premier League, Sanchez has been pretty impressive since his £32 million switch from Barcelona this summer.

And Wenger says that he wasn't expecting the Chilean to make an immediate impact at Arsenal.

"I don't judge them for at least six months [if they arrive from abroad]," admitted Wenger told Arsenal's official website. "Alexis struggled at the start to deal with the commitment but now he is more confident because he scores goals and he speaks the language much better."