With Alexander Hleb looking more and more likely to leave the Emirates Stadium this summer, Arsenal are looking to benefit from any transfer deal as much as possible.
Spanish giants Barcelona are reported to have agreed a deal in principal with the Belarusian himself, with only the fee to be sorted between the Catalans and Arsenal. An offer of £20million is suposedly on the table, but Wenger and Co are looking for a deal including Ivorian Yaya Toure, brother of Gunners defender Kolo.
Arsenal are looking for a holding midfielder as a replacement for Mathieu Flamini, and see Toure as the perfect player for the job. They are also reluctant to let Hleb leave without another midfielder coming in, in an attempt to maintain some squad balance.
However, with a successful debut season in La Liga since his switch from AS Monaco and a place in the fan’s hearts, Yaya’s chances of linking up with his brother seem slim. Barca sporting director Txiki Beguiristain said:
“Nothing has been decided as yet, but we want Yaya to stay with us and he is not on the market.
[New Barca manager, Josep] Guardiola considers him to be an important player in his new project.”
With that in mind, it looks unlikely that Yaya will be the makeweight, but with such a turbulent season behind them at Camp Nou, the player may indicate his requirement for some stability and engineer his way to North London.