As the Gunners prepare to greet Galatasaray tonight in their Champions League encounter at the Emirates, Metro claims Arsenal "have started work" on a deal to finally get their mitts on World Cup winner Sami Khedira.
It's reported in Spain that Arsenal have been badgering the Real Madrid midfielder for months and had hoped to sign him in the summer. But although that plan collapsed like an injured Arsenal midfielder, Metro says that the north London club have "resumed their interest" in the German international and are quietly confident of securing his signature when the January transfer window opens.
The paper adds that manager Arsene Wenger has "asked senior Arsenal officials to wrap up a deal quickly", and according to website Caughtoffside that could be sooner rather than later. It claims an exclusive with the news that the 27-year-old Khedira flew in to London yesterday to conduct "secret" talks over a £9m move in January. Arsenal will be able to negotiate such a low price for the Germany star because he is out of contract next summer at Real Madrid, and there also concerns in some quarters about his recent knee surgery. But Caughtoffside reports that Wenger is "unconcerned with the midfielder's recent injury" and will wrap up the deal in the coming weeks.
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But if Arsenal are poised to seal the deal for Khedira the same can't be said of Sporting Lisbon midfielder William Carvalho. The 22-year-old playmaker was linked to Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United in the summer but the Daily Star reports that all three clubs now "look set to miss out on Carvalho" despite the fact the Gunners board had apparently sanctioned a £28m bid in January.
Why? Because, if Portuguese rag A Bola has its facts straight, Carvalho "is about to sign a new contract with Sporting", one that will see the youngster's salary rocket to ten times what it is now. The Star adds that the news "will be a huge blow" to Wenger, Louis van Gaal and Jose Mourinho who had all dreamed of capturing Carvalho.
Both Arsenal and Liverpool will be disappointed to hear that Real Madrid misfit Isco believes he has a future at the Bernabeu. The former Malaga playmaker has failed to break into the first team since arriving in Madrid a year ago in a £23.4m deal, however, the Daily Express says that he has no intention of quitting for regular first team football.
The paper notes that both Brendan Rodgers and Wenger had expressed an interest in the player in the summer, but are likely to get nowhere if they try to sign him in January.
Finally it appears that Manchester United have as much hope of signing Mats Hummels as Wayne Rooney does of winning the 'Skipper of the Season' award. According to the Daily Telegraph the Borussia Dortmund defender has told the Red Devils to forget about making a move for him in the new year. The German international has been in Van Gaal's sights ever since he became manager of the ailing Old Trafford club. But when Hummels was asked by Bundesliga Magazin International if he was open to a move to England, he replied: "It's nice to hear that big clubs like that are interested in you. I take that as a compliment. But it doesn't influence me in any way... We earn enough here in Dortmund... If one day I start thinking about playing abroad, money won't be the reason. But I don't even think about that at the moment. We still have so much further to go here."
