After Mesut Ozil’s Injury, More Bad News For Arsenal

At a time when many Arsenal fans are already drawing up a mental formation of how Sami Khedira will fit into their team’s mid-field, reports from Italy has confirmed at one of the Serie A giants are already lining up a bid to price the Real Madrid outcast to Italy. Yes, it is true that AC Milan are keen to compete with Premier League side Arsenal  to secure the services of  Sami Khedira in January at least if the Daily Star remains reliable.

The 27-year-old who was an integral member of Joachim Low’s victorious side at the recently concluded World Cup finals in Brazil has since seen his place at the Bernabeu usurped by some of the summer signings introduced by manager Carlo Ancelloti. Althoughthe German suffered a serious knee injury and did not attain full fitness till the end of last season, many pundits believe that with his breath-taking performances in Brazil, the midfielder ought to have warmed his way back to Ancelloti’s heart. Unfortunately, the former Chelsea boss indicated that he has different plans of his own, when he sanctioned the signing of James Rodriguez, Keylor Navas and Toni Kroos. With these big money signings not only Khedira felt the heat, Angel Di Maria did also and has since jumped ship to Manchester United were he now operates in style. With Sami’s German compatriot Toni Kroos now frequently paired with former Tottenham star Luka Modric, he has only seen action for just 32 minutes in Real Madrid’s seven La Liga fixtures this season. Fortunately for him, he has less than a year remaining on his contract and with the level of frustration he now faces, Khedira will surely listen to offers come January.

Can the German attract good offers? Yes, he can.In fact, he has even been considered as one of the more realistic targets for Arsene Wenger in the Frenchman’s quest to acquire a midfield option that can bring both class and physical presence to the Gunners centre last summer. Although Khedira decided to stay on at Madrid, Arsenal have continued to monitor the situation and are all but waiting for the New Year to sign Sami up. However, Real Madrid President Fiorentino Perez will like to get as much as he can in Sami’s deal and with Filippo Inzaghi also keen on getting a mid-field enforcer who can help Milan back to the Champions League, Perez might just be willing to start a price war.

Now, if there is a manager who loathes the current rate of bloated transfer fees, then it is Asrene Wenger, the Gunner boss has stated several times that football should not be treated like business. As a hallmark of his stay at Arsenal, he has always avoided players that he feels are valued at prices far greater than their abilities. Although the Gunner boss has now adjusted his philosophy by signing Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil for big prices, a little bit of history will remind us of the Arshavin saga, where the Russian had to augment his own transfer fee.  So if Milan decides to battle all the way, Perez will encourage a hike in Sami’s price and perhaps Wenger will just have to cast his net elsewhere.