Arsenal Transfer News: Wenger to Make Firm Bid to Sign Premier League Midfielder in January

Arsene Wenger is already reaping the rewards of signing one player from Southampton in the summer, and the Arsenal manager is ready to go back to St Mary's again in a bid to sign Morgan Schneiderlin in the January transfer window.

Arsenal  signed Calum Chambers from Southampton last summer, which follows the transfer of Theo Walcott and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain in past seasons, and the defender has been excellent for the North London side.

Wenger was also keen on signing Schneiderlin at the same time, but the transfer broke after Ronaldo Koeman put his foot down and refused to sell the midfielder.

Tottenham were also interested, and indeed were the frontrunners for Schneiderlin, who even went on strike to try and force a move to the North London club where his former manager had taken over as manager.

However, he remained with the Saints and has had a really good season so far, playing a vital role in Southampton's strong start in the Premier League, where they currently lie third.

Wenger, whose team beat Southampton on Wednesday in the absence of Schneiderlin, is desperate to land a defensive midfielder in January, and has been linked with the likes of William Carvalho, Lars Bender and Grzegorz Krychowiak.

However, Wenger is a big fan of signing players who already have Premier League experience, as it reduces their adapting time, and Schneiderlin would be perfect for that particular reason.

The Arsenal manager is now ready to firm his interest in Schneiderlin by making a £15 million bid for the France international in January, according to the Sun.

It remains to be seen if £15 million will be enough for Southampton to even consider selling one of their key players. It does look unlikely, as the Saints are very much in contention for a top four spot, as Wenger himself admitted, and the last thing they will want is sell a big player to one of the teams competing with them for that top four place.

After all, £15 million is short change in the current transfer market, and it does look likely that Wenger will have to up that bid considerably and go well in excess of £20 million is he is to tempt Southampton to sell Schneiderlin.

The other defensive midfielders that Arsenal have been linked with are also expected to cost well in excess of £15 million, so it will be interesting to see if Wenger does decide to dip into that transfer chest and make a firm bid for any of the players; because Arsenal could certainly use a solid defensive midfielder, even if a central defender is the highest priority.