Wenger Needs To Act Fast As The Italian Giants Set To Steal Arsenal Target

Serie A club AC Milan are set to compete with Premier League sides Arsenal and Liverpool for Real Madrid midfielder Asier Illarramendi. Milan have identified the 24-year old as a replacement for Marco Van Ginkel who will return to Chelsea after not seeing enough game time during his loan spell at Milan. Van Ginkel has made just one appearance for Milan since joining them for a 1-year loan. His agent Karel Jansen told Gazzetta dello Sport, “Things looked promising with Milan – Marco started the season on the bench and expected to play once he had adapted to the new club and new country, but after having recovered from his injury, he has only played a few minutes.”

Illarramendi too has had the same problem at Real Madrid as he has found it really hard to get into the team ahead of the likes of Toni Kroos and Luka Modric in the central midfield position. The former Sociedad man has made 7 appearances in the La Liga, but has played for a total of only 194 minutes in those games. Since joining Real in the summer of 2013 for a fee of £34m, a lot was expected of him, but the presence of bigger names in the squad has limited his growth and he could move for a temporary spell if an offer comes in.

Arsenal desperately need a  player like Illarramendi as they lack a World Class natural central midfield player to compete in big games. The Spanish international’s style has been compared to that of Bayern Munich midfielder Xabi Alonso who is adept in controlling the tempo of the game from a deep position. He could be a perfect Arteta Replacement!

It’s unlikely that Illarramendi will be sold permanently in the winter transfer window, which means that a loan move will purely depend on which club will offer him more game time. Despite that, a move to the Premier League will definitely be a more attractive option for the Spaniard.

Race in on!