Emirates Stadium side target Kenyan international.
Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has long been linked with a real interest in Southampton battler Morgan Schneiderlin but is now thought to have switched his focus to his St Mary’s team-mate Victor Wanyama.
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The north London side could well do with a strong tackling midfield presence with neither Mikel Arteta or Mathieu Flamini consistently impressing in either a holding or out and out defensive midfield roles and having taken a shine to Wanyama during his time at Celtic Wenger is now ready to re-ignite his interest in the 23 year old.
Wenger watched on as Wanyama won the midfield battle against the aforementioned Flamini and bit-part player Frances Coquelin on New Year’s Day and may deem his chances of luring the Kenyan international as superior to his ongoing pursuit of Schneiderlin.
Wanyama has shown great improvement in his second season at Southampton and may be tempted by a high-profile move to the Emirates Stadium.
Though Arsenal are hoping to bring in a tough tackler in January they believe a move for Wanyama is far more likel to succeed in the summer, with the Saints having a tough battle to retain their current level of form throughout the campaign.
Wenger will hope to secure a top four spot and doing so force Southampton out of the race and having tasted Champions League action at Parkhead it’s likely Wanyama would be even more drawn to Arsenal should they have once again secured a berth in the competition.
Having signed the likes of Theo Walcott, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Calum Chambers from Southampton Arsene Wenger may feel confident of his chances of another successful south-coast raid.