Despite their big win over Chelsea, Arsene Wenger is said to be keen on strengthen his back-line – which have already conceded 21 goals in just 10 Premier League games – and has identified Ajax’s Jan Vertonghen as his prime target.
The Belgian centre-back is likely to cost around £10 million and has been on The Gunners radar for quite sometime now.
Ajax would find it very difficult to turn down a tempting offer, should Arsenal table one of course, for a player who has been capped 30 times for his country.
Vertonghen has in the past spoke of his ‘dream’ to one day follow his fellow countryman Thomas Vermaelen to north London, which in my estimation firmly puts Arsenal ahead of any other interested parties.
The Gunners were linked with the 24-year-old defender last summer, but a move never materialised and the club have since added Per Mertesacker to their defence.
However, Arsenal still continue to leak goals at an alarming rate, which may alert Wenger and could prompt the Frenchman to make a move for Vertonghen and add the Belgian to his Christmas shopping list that also includes a fitness DVD for his injury-prone compatriot, or indeed another strong centre-back, when the January transfer window opens.
Courtesy of Tony Merakli for Gunnersphere.com
We need him because this will keep depth in our back line