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Arsenal Close In On Potential £43m Double Swoop

By mac14 on July 26, 2014

Arsenal are closing in on a double swoop for £43m Southampton duo Morgan Schneiderlin and Calum Chambers, according to reports.

The big news over the past 24 hours is that we’ve agreed a deal with the Saints for talented right-back Chambers and he’s on the verge of moving to the Emirates after undergoing a medical on Friday.

While the Daily Mail believe the fee is around £12m, the BBC are reporting it’s actually nearer £16m, and the 19-year-old is expected to complete his move to north London early next week.

Chambers is very highly-rated at St Mary’s and although the initial thought is he’ll compete with Mathieu Debuchy for the right-back role as that’s predominantly where he’s played the majority of his games, there are rumours that Arsene Wenger may plan to use him as cover at central defence too.

And it looks like it could be a sensational double swoop on Southampton with the BBC also confirming that we’re in talks over midfielder Morgan Schneiderlin.

We’ve been strongly linked with the Frenchman this summer as Arsene looks to bring in a ‘proper’ defensive midfielder to act as a long-term replacement for Mikel Arteta.

However, while some reports suggest we are hoping to agree a deal in the region of £15-£18m, the Guardian claim Southampton are demanding £27m for the 25-year-old’s signature.

New boss Ronald Koeman apparently sees Schneiderlin as a key part of his plans next season and is determined to try and hang on to him having seen his squad decimated this summer.

The midfielder is due to return to pre-season training on Monday where he’ll hold talks about his future, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he asked to leave as he’s made it pretty clear this summer that he wants to be playing at the highest level.

If Arsenal are prepared to give him the chance to play in the Champions League and hopefully challenge for the title, then it’s likely the player will try and push for a move which could see the Saints lower their asking price.

Either way, I hope we can get a deal done as Schneiderlin would be an excellent signing and would provide the protection in front of the back four we’ve missed in recent years.

Lets hope Arsene can work his magic and pull off this double swoop on Southampton, and along with goalkeeper David Ospina – who’s due to arrive from Nice – we’ll have an excellent squad heading in to the new season.