Arsenal could move for Yanga-Mbiwa
Wednesday, January 9, 2013 at 9:21 PM | by Matt Carter 
Some things in the transfer window don't change, such as you can always bank on Arsene Wenger being linked with the latest highly rated young French defender.
The latest one being Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa, who The Mirror are reporting the Gunners will go for if they offload Johan Djourou and Sebastian Squillaci, which is a rather large sized "if" should you have been unlucky enough to have watched Squillaci play in recent years.
Yanga-Mbiwa the current Montpellier skipper has reportedly attracted the interest of Arsenal before, and if rumours are to believed Wenger might just get his man this time with the French Champions now out of the Champions League and ready to cash in.
He would no doubt be an asset to the north London club given that they are hardly awash with reliable defensive talent right, and at 23 he should only get better, however you can't help but feel that they are still in dire need of the defensive midfielder they have been missing since Patrick Veira departed. With this in mind, the primary focus should surely be on a holding player particularly given that Abou Diaby continues to struggle further with injuries, for until this happens their back-line is likely to be consistently exposed.
Arsenal fans are now accustomed to view every transfer rumour with a cynical eye given that they seemed to be constantly replacing and preparing to replace players, and it is thought that a move for Yanga-Mibwa would be a reaction to Bacary Sagna looking unlikely to sign a new deal.
It is difficult to tell whether this is just the usual case of putting two and two together and creating 28, given Arsenal and Wenger's past history with French Football and Footballers. It is worth noting that over recent seasons the vast majority of these types of players linked to the Gunners have never actually made the move over the channel so we should probably take this one with a little pinch of salt right now.
Nevertheless Wenger could do worse than Yanga-Mibwa, yes a defensive midfielder should be a priority but they would be foolish to turn down such an assured and young player who would without question improve their backline.
