With Mesut Ozil, Aaron Ramsey, Jack Wilshere, Mikel Arteta and Tomas Rosicky, you would have thought that Arsene Wenger has enough central midfielders to last him the season, no? Well, talkSPORT are reporting that Lazio’s Hernanes is a £25m target for Arsenal.
The 28-year-old was previously linked with the Gunners but the capture of Ozil quashed rumours, and a lot of us thought that would be it. How wrong we were.
Regardless of where he would fit in, let’s take a look at the man that is being linked with a switch.
So far this season Lazio have won three, lost two and drawn two, but there has been a constant in the side – Hernanes. His performances have boosted the capital side with two goals and four chances created, while his shooting has struck fear into goalkeepers’ all campaign.
He has so far had 18 shots in the Italian topflight, hitting the target with 14 of those (78%). He’s also been impressive in the Europa League, hitting the target with six of his seven shots and completing 87% of his passes.
Remarkably for such a creative player, he has also averaged three defensive actions per game.
Whether or not he is needed at the Emirates is up to Wenger and his merry bugle of backroom staff, but the 28-year-old is a blinding player. Watch this clip and tell me otherwise.