Victor Wanyama raised a few eyebrows when he said a while back that Arsene Wenger wanted to sign him for Arsenal, before quickly turning back on those comments. But, the Southampton midfielder has again expressed his desire to play for Arsenal, which immediately opens up the possibility of Wenger completing a move for the Kenya international midfielder.
Midfielder, Southampton and Arsenal over the past few months have meant Morgan Schneiderlin, but reports of that particular move have died down a little of late, with the latest ones claiming Manchester United are now the favourites to sign the Frenchman.
The Arsenal manager is thought to be in the market for a defensive/holding midfielder, with the likes of Schneiderlin and Geoffrey Kondogbia heavily linked with moves.
However, if Wanyama has his way, it will be him making a switch to the Emirates this summer, with the former Celtic midfielder, yet again, admitting his liking for the Gunners.
"It would be nice to move to Arsenal," Wanyama told a Kenyan TV show according to the Daily Star.
"But at this moment such decisions can only be made by Southampton and that is where my concentration as a player is."
Wanyama would certainly add a bit more physique to the Arsenal midfield, but the question with the Kenyan has always been if he possesses the technical ability that Wenger demands from pretty much all his players.
Francis Coquelin has shown he can do the dirty work and make those nice, as well as right, passes – his long pass to the left which brought about Arsenal's opening goal in the FA Cup final highlighting that particular attribute – which is why the Frenchman has been in such favour over the second half of the season.
In Schneiderlin, Arsenal will definitely have another player capable of doing the same, and while Wanyama has undoubtedly improved his game since signing from Celtic a couple of summers ago, if he is ready to make the step up to a team like Arsenal remains a pertinent question.
However, what cannot be denied is that if Wenger does decide to make a move for Wanyama, he will add some serious muscle to the Arsenal midfield, and that is something that has been lacking in the side for a while now – that imposing, physical presence which just makes teams hold back a little and say "woah, it is not going to be that easy to go through this Arsenal midfield today."
Coquelin, despite not being an imposing physical presence, did that particular work pretty well last season, but Wenger will do well to add another quality defensive midfielder into the Arsenal ranks before the start of next season.
