Reports are suggesting that the Gunners have stepped up their hunt to sign a defensive midfielder by offering Sporting Lisbon a fee of £23.9 million up front for Portuguese star William Carvalho.

It has been suggested that the midfielder currently earns a measly €5,000 a month, and despite being offered a very generous pay rise at his current club – could be keen on a switch to North London, should the opportunity arise.

Carvalho has a £37 million release clause in his contract but it seems it would not take an offer that large for the Gunners to secure their man – as it is thought Sporting have revealed to Arsenal that they would accept a lower fee if it is agreed to be paid up front.

The Portuguese club would surely be keen to get this deal wrapped up as soon as possible if it is to go ahead, so to re-invest the money received for Carvalho into their squad – finding a direct replacement in the process.

There is still always the chance that Arsene Wenger could launch another bid for Real Madrid player Sami Khedira. Reports earlier on in the summer suggested the German was very close to joining Arsenal. Nothing came to fruition on that occasion with some suggesting that the Gunners were unwilling to pay the German’s wage demands. Real would still likely be happy to sell with the player only having one year left on his contract anyway, so to avoid the player leaving on a free next summer.

I think it’s safe to say that Arsenal will have a new defensive midfielder on their books before the start of the English Premier League season – but who that will be remains a mystery.

In a recent interview Wenger had this to say:

Who’s next? I don’t know,

When asked about possible new arrivals. He goes on…

There could still be one signing, maximum of two. If a good opportunity comes up we might still do it, but at the moment we are not close to signing anybody.

Arsenal have had a busy summer of transfers already bringing in Callum Chambers(Southampton), Alexis Sanchez(Barcelona), David Opsina(Nice) and Mathieu Debuchy(Newcastle).